Deunionization and import competition drive inequality, but computer investment’s inequality effects are uneven.

Evidence

Our analysis confirms previous findings that deunionization is associated with long-run decline in labor’s share of income ðKristal 2010Þ, increasing income concentration at the top ðPiketty and Saez 2006Þ, and growing income dispersion among workers ðWestern and Rosenfeld 2011Þ. The effects of computer investment on income dynamics, however, are mixed. While there is evidence suggesting a connection between computer investment and earnings dispersion, its effects on officers’ compensation and labor’s share of income are mixed. For extractive and manufacturing industries, we find that the global inflow of goods indeed led to a long-run decline in labor’s share of income and an increase in earnings dispersion. — Ken-Hou Lin & Donald Tomaskovic-Devey, Financialization and U.S. Income…, 170

Categorization

• XREF: Corroborates the skill-biased technical change vs. deunionization debate, echoing Acemoglu and Autor’s reassessment of SBTC. — connects to: Skill-biased technological change cannot explain cross-national variation in income inequality — Ken-Hou Lin & Donald Tomaskovic-Devey, Financialization and U.S. Income…, 33; Early computer-investment effects on executive pay depend on business services — Ken-Hou Lin & Donald Tomaskovic-Devey, Financialization and U.S. Income…, 138; Trade integration fused American underinvestment with Chinese overinvestment for both workers’ harm — Yanis Varoufakis, Technofeudalism: What Killed Capitalism, 569 (+1 more)

Related

• Technology-driven explanations cannot explain cross-national inequality patterns. (similarity 0.88)
• Skill-biased technological change cannot explain cross-national variation in income inequality (similarity 0.87)
• Greater import penetration lowers labor’s share of income (similarity 0.82)
• Early computer-investment effects on executive pay depend on business services (similarity 0.81)
• Inequality dimensions reflect one institutional shift toward financialization (similarity 0.80)
• Deunionization still leaves much wage inequality unexplained, pointing to financialization (similarity 0.80)
• Financialization independently explains over half of labor’s falling income share since 1970. (similarity 0.79)