The Changing Distribution of Earnings in OECD Countries (The Rodolfo De Benedetti Lecture Series)

Atkinson, A B

ISBN 10: 0199532435 / ISBN 13: 9780199532438

Published by OUP Oxford, 2008

About this Item

This book examines what people are paid and how pay differences have changed over time. The author presents new theories that challenge current thinking on the impact of education, technology, globalization and the rigidity of labour markets. Beginning with an accessible introduction, it then provides a model and new empirical data for 20 countries Series: The Rodolfo De Benedetti Lecture Series. Num Pages: 512 pages, Numerous tables and figures. BIC Classification: JHBL; JKSB; KCF; KFFD. Category: (UP) Postgraduate, Research & Scholarly; (UU) Undergraduate. Dimension: 234 x 164 x 34. Weight in Grams: 862. . 2008. Illustrated. hardcover. . . . .

Seller Inventory # V9780199532438

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Changing Distribution of Earnings in OECD Countries (The Rodolfo De Benedetti Lecture Series)
• Publisher: OUP Oxford
• Publication Date: 2008
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0199532435
• ISBN 13: 9780199532438
• Binding: Hardcover
• Condition: New

About this title

Synopsis

This book is about how much people earn and why the distribution of earnings has been changing over time. The gap between the top and bottom in the United States has widened significantly since 1980. Why has this happened? Is it due to new technologies? What is the role of globalization? Are there historical precedents?

The book begins with the "race" between technology and education, and shows that continuing technical progress does not necessarily imply a continuing rise in dispersion. It then examines the experience of 20 OECD countries over the twentieth century, material presented in the form of 20 country case studies. The book breaks new ground in assembling data on the distribution of individual earnings covering much of the twentieth century and drawing on a variety of under-exploited sources.

The findings overturn a number of widely-held beliefs. It is not the earnings of the low paid that have been most affected by the recent changes; widening is largely due to what is happening at the top. The recent rise in earnings dispersion is not unprecedented, but should be seen as part of a longer-run history of successive compression and expansion of earnings differences.

About the Author

Sir Tony Atkinson has been Warden of Nuffield College, Oxford, from 1994 to 2005. He was previously Tooke Professor at the London School of Economics, and founder Editor of the Journal of Public Economics. He has previously been President of the Econometric Society, of the European Economic Association, the Royal Economic Society, and the International Economic Association.