Wage Inequality and Labor Rights Violations

Ioana Marinescu, Yue Qiu and Aaron Sojourner

No 28475, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

Abstract: Wage inequality does not fully capture differences in job quality. Jobs also differ along other key dimensions, including the prevalence of labor rights violations. We construct novel measures of labor violation rates using data from federal agencies. Within local industries over time, a 10% increase in the average wage is associated with a 0.15% decrease in the number of violations per employee and a 4% decrease in fines per dollar of pay. Reduced labor market concentration and increased union coverage rate are also associated with reductions in labor violations. Overall, labor violations are regressive: they increase inequality in job quality.

JEL-codes: J28 J31 J32 J33 J83 K31 K42 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021-02
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cwa, nep-law and nep-lma
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Working Paper: Wage Inequality and Labor Rights Violations (2021)
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