Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/51591 
Year of Publication: 
2011
Series/Report no.: 
IZA Discussion Papers No. 5542
Publisher: 
Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA), Bonn
Abstract: 
This paper argues that changes in the returns to occupational tasks have contributed to changes in the wage distribution over the last three decades. Using Current Population Survey (CPS) data, we first show that the 1990s polarization of wages is explained by changes in wage setting between and within occupations, which are well captured by tasks measures linked to technological change and offshorability. Using a decomposition based on Firpo, Fortin, and Lemieux (2009), we find that technological change and deunionization played a central role in the 1980s and 1990s, while offshorability became an important factor from the 1990s onwards.
Subjects: 
wage inequality
polarization
occupational tasks
offshoring
RIF-regressions
JEL: 
J3
J5
Persistent Identifier of the first edition: 
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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