Recent Flattening in the Higher Education Wage Premium: Polarization, Skill Downgrading, or Both? / Robert G. Valletta.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Valletta, Robert G.

Contributor:

National Bureau of Economic Research.

Series:

Working Paper Series (National Bureau of Economic Research) no. w22935.

NBER working paper series no. w22935

Language:

English

Physical Description:

1 online resource: illustrations (black and white);

Other Title:

Recent Flattening in the Higher Education Wage Premium

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, Mass. National Bureau of Economic Research 2016.

Summary:

Wage gaps between workers with a college or graduate degree and those with only a high school degree rose rapidly in the United States during the 1980s. Since then, the rate of growth in these wage gaps has progressively slowed, and though the gaps remain large, they were essentially unchanged between 2010 and 2015. I assess this flattening over time in higher education wage premiums with reference to two related explanations for changing U.S. employment patterns: (i) a shift away from middle-skilled occupations driven largely by technological change ("polarization"); and (ii) a general weakening in the demand for advanced cognitive skills ("skill downgrading"). Analyses of wage and employment data from the U.S. Current Population Survey suggest that both factors have contributed to the flattening of higher education wage premiums.

Notes:

Print version record

December 2016.