The Anatomy of Changing Male Earnings Inequality: An Empirical Exploration of Determinants

Abstract

The source of the increased inequality in the distribution of male earnings has been the focus of much economic analysis. In this working paper, Robert H. Haveman and Lawrence Buron attempt to find the source of the increased inequality in the distribution of male earnings since the 1970s. Specifically, they seek to find: (1) the relative contributions of changes in wage rates and hours worked to the observed increase in male earnings inequality; (2) whether the relative contributions of changes in relative wage rates and work times to earnings inequality alters if the population examined is all males versus all male workers; (3) the changes over time in wage rate and work time variability within the standard categories of male work patterns; and (4) what the effect of changes in the structure of male work patterns—for example, FTYR work versus part–time or part–year work—has been on the pattern of earnings inequality.