Wage Divergence between the Rocky Mountain States and the U.S.: Idaho Measures and Sources, 2001-2009

Stephen C. Cooke and Bharathkumar A. Kulandaisamy
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Stephen C. Cooke: University of Idaho
Bharathkumar A. Kulandaisamy: University of Idaho

The Review of Regional Studies, 2010, vol. 40, issue 1, pages 99-124

Abstract: In 2005, the Rocky Mountain States (Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Utah, and Wyoming) average annual wage per job was about $4,000 less than the U.S. average. In 2009, Idaho's average wage per job was $10,700 less. The difference in wage elasticities measures, sector bias, and Theil inequality indices were used to identify the sectors that were the source of the growing wage gap between Idaho and the U.S. across 81 sectors. Idaho's wage gap was the result of positive sector bias on employment growth in influential low-wage sectors and negative sector bias on employment growth and the low level of wages in the influential high-wage sectors. The economy of the Rocky Mountain region can be characterized as caught in a low-skill/low-wage equilibrium trap.

Keywords: Inequality; Low Wage; Regions; Wage; Wage Gap (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J31 R12 R23 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2010
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