Earnings Dynamics and Inequality among Canadian Men, 1976-1992: Evidence from Longitudinal Income Tax Records / Michael Baker, Gary Solon.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Baker, Michael.

Contributor:

National Bureau of Economic Research.

Solon, Gary.

Series:

Working Paper Series (National Bureau of Economic Research) no. w7370.

NBER working paper series no. w7370

Language:

English

Physical Description:

1 online resource: illustrations (black and white);

Other Title:

Earnings Dynamics and Inequality among Canadian Men, 1976-1992

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, Mass. National Bureau of Economic Research 1999.

Summary:

Several recent studies have found that earnings inequality in Canada has grown considerably since the late 1970's. Using an extraordinary data base drawn from longitudinal income tax records, we decompose this growth in earnings inequality into its persistent and transitory components. We find that the growth in earnings inequality reflects both an increase in long-run inequality and an increase in earnings instability. The large size of our earnings panel allows us to estimate and test richer models of earnings dynamics than could be supported by the relatively small panel surveys used in U.S. research. The Canadian data strongly reject several restrictions commonly imposed in the U.S. literature, and they also suggest that imposing these evidently false restrictions may lead to distorted inferences about earnings dynamics and inequality trends.

Notes:

Print version record

September 1999.