Tyler Smith<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Since the 1970s, an increasingly large percentage of income in the United States has gone to a select few at the top of the earnings distribution. But data limitations have hampered economists\u2019 efforts to pinpoint the drivers of this growing inequality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In a paper in the American Economic Review<\/em><\/a>, authors John Haltiwanger<\/a>, Henry R. Hyatt<\/a>, and James R. Spletzer<\/a> show that the overall increase in wage inequality is driven by a small number of industries. High-wage workers are increasingly sorted into high-wage industries, such as high-tech, while low-wage workers are increasingly sorted into low-wage industries, such as fast food and retail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The researchers drew their conclusions from analyzing the Longitudinal Employer-Household Dynamics (LEHD) linked employer\u2013employee data, which includes detailed wage records and employer information from 1996 to 2018 and covers roughly 44 percent of national employment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u03a0\u03b7\u03b3\u03ae: www.aeaweb.org<\/p>\n\n\n\n