Internal work organization shapes income inequality independent of individual differences

Evidence

How can the social relations of work affect inequality of incomes and inequality of economic opportunity? This is affected clearly by influencing the relative earnings of various jobs, the relative proportions of job cate­ gories, and the chances of individuals passing from one to the other. For example, if all individuals participated equally in communal enterprises and divided the proceeds equally, then no inequality would be due to the internal organization; all inequality would reflect differences in revenues among enterprises. As another example, we may consider an idealized guild economy. Each enterprise has a number of masters, a larger number of journeymen below them, and a larger number of apprentices below them. If each worker begins as an apprentice and progresses to the level of master, then guild organization would imply income inequality according to age; the degree of inequality depends on the wage differentials and the numerical proportions among the three age-related categories of workers. But incomes would be equalized over the lifetime of the workers. — Samuel Bowles and Herbert Gintis, Schooling in Capitalist America, 877

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Workforce demographics and market concentration shape income distribution independently — Ken-Hou Lin & Donald Tomaskovic-Devey, Financialization and U.S. Income…, 171; Hierarchical labor shapes inequality through consciousness, not just wages — Samuel Bowles and Herbert Gintis, Schooling in Capitalist America:…, 904; Unionization decreases income inequality by disciplining employer power — Nikole Hannah-Jones et al., The 1619 Project: A New American Origin…, 583 (+5 more)

Broader Connections

• Workforce demographics and market concentration shape income distribution independently #corroborates (0.82) — Ken-Hou Lin & Donald Tomaskovic-Devey, Financialization and U.S. Income…, 171
• Hierarchical labor shapes inequality through consciousness, not just wages #expands (0.80) — Samuel Bowles and Herbert Gintis, Schooling in Capitalist America, 904
• Income inequality reflects relative bargaining power between actor groups, not markets #contradicts (0.80) — Ken-Hou Lin & Donald Tomaskovic-Devey, Financialization and U.S. Income…, 36
• Unionization decreases income inequality by disciplining employer power #corroborates (0.78) — Nikole Hannah-Jones et al., The 1619 Project, 583
• Meritocratic theory attributes income inequality to unequal skill distribution. #contradicts (0.78) — Samuel Bowles and Herbert Gintis, Schooling in Capitalist America, 316
• Whites accept individual inequality but reject group-based inequality #qualifies (0.75) — , Rudman, Laurie A - On the Nature of…, 2182
• Structural inequality does not inevitably produce group conflict #expands (0.72) — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology, 3360