The Great Compression of the French Wage Structure, 1969-2008

47 Pages Posted: 12 Apr 2014

See all articles by Gregory Verdugo

Gregory Verdugo

Université Paris I Panthéon-Sorbonne - Centre d'Economie de la Sorbonne (CES)

Abstract

Wage inequality decreased continuously in France from 1969 to 2008. In contrast to the US and the UK, this period was also characterised by a substantial increase in the educational attainment of the labour force. This paper investigates whether differences in the timing of educational expansion over the last forty years can explain the divergent evolution of upper tail wage inequality in France relative to other countries. Using a model with imperfect substitution between experience groups, the estimates suggest that the rapid increase in the supply of educated workers during the 1970s and 1990s produced a substantial decline in the skill premium within cohorts. As a result, between a third and half of the decline in wage inequality at the top of the distribution in France during this period is explained by the increase in the educational attainment of the labour force.

Keywords: wage inequality, France

JEL Classification: J31

Suggested Citation

Verdugo, Gregory, The Great Compression of the French Wage Structure, 1969-2008. IZA Discussion Paper No. 8088, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2424187 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2424187

Gregory Verdugo (Contact Author)

Université Paris I Panthéon-Sorbonne - Centre d'Economie de la Sorbonne (CES) ( email )

106-112 Boulevard de l'hopital
106-112 Boulevard de l'Hôpital
Paris Cedex 13, 75647
France

Do you have negative results from your research you’d like to share?

Paper statistics

Downloads
31
Abstract Views
425
PlumX Metrics