Labor Earnings Mobility and Inequality in the United States and Germany During the Growth Years of the 1980s

Richard Burkhauser, Douglas Holtz-Eakin and Stephen E. Rhody

No 5988, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

Abstract: Recent years have witnessed increased interest in issues of inequality and mobility in the labor market. Using data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics and the German Socio-Economic Panel, we compare the labor earnings mobility of prime age men and women in the United States and Germany during the growth years of the 1980s. Despite major differences in labor market institutions we find very similar patterns in the two countries. Our formal models of labor earnings dynamics suggest a great deal of persistence in both countries. In the United States this may derive from permanent individual-specific differences among men, while in Germany random shocks are found to persist longer for men. Women in Germany and the United States have similar earnings dynamics.

JEL-codes: D31 I32 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 1997-04
Note: LS
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (41)

Published as Burkhauser, Richard V., Douglas Holtz-Eakin and Stephen E. Rhody. "Labor Earnings Mobility And Inequality In The Untied States And Germany During The Growth Years Of The 1980s," International Economic Review, 1997, v38(4,Nov), 775-794.

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