Workers, firms and life-cycle wage dynamics

"Studies of individual wage dynamics typically ignore firm heterogeneity, whereas decompositions of earnings into worker and firm effects abstract from life-cycle considerations. We study firm effects in individual wage dynamics using administrative data on the population of Italian employers a...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Bingley, Paul, Cappellari, Lorenzo
Institution:ETUI-European Trade Union Institute
Format: TEXT
Language:English
Published: Bonn 2018
IZA
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.labourline.org/KENTIKA-19399949124911171219-Workers,-firms-and-life-cycle-.htm
Description
Summary:"Studies of individual wage dynamics typically ignore firm heterogeneity, whereas decompositions of earnings into worker and firm effects abstract from life-cycle considerations. We study firm effects in individual wage dynamics using administrative data on the population of Italian employers and employees. We propose a novel identification strategy for firm-related wage components exploiting the informative content of the wage covariance structure of coworkers. Wage inequality increases three-fold over the working life; firm effects are predominant while young, but sorting of workers into firms becomes increasingly important, explaining the largest share of lifetime inequality. Static models that do not allow for life-cycle dynamics underestimate the importance of sorting and overstate match and firm effects."
Physical Description:44 p.
Digital