Using establishment-level data from a variety of sources, this study documents and analyzes the consistent rise in interindustry wage dispersion in the United States between 1970 and 1987. The authors attribute about 60% of the rise in this measure of wage dispersion to competitive market factors, such as changes in the demographic and occupational mix of industrial sectors. They find, however, that noncompetitive factors also play an important part in this trend. The most important noncompetitive factor is a strong link between the long-term trends in industry wages and productivity growth, which appears to stem largely from rent-sharing behavior among industries.
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