Skill-bias and wage inequality in the EU New Member States: Empirical investigation

Arbeitspapier

We use the individual-level data on income and education level from the EU-SILC database to investigate the trends in income distribution and wage polarization in the EU New Member States. We do not confirm the existence of job polarization in wages and employment that has been observed in the United States or other developed countries. Rather, we document decreasing inequality, particularly in Czechia, Poland, Hungary and Slovakia. Also, our estimates of the elasticity of substitution between low and high skill labour are higher than often found in other countries. These results imply a different impact of globalization on the labour markets in the EU New Member States than in other countries. However, it remains unclear whether these differences are temporary or will prevail in the future.

Object Details

• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Series: IES Working Paper ; No. 26/2022

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Wirtschaft ; Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs: General ; Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials ; Industrialization; Manufacturing and Service Industries; Choice of Technology ; Innovation and Invention: Processes and Incentives ; Technological Change: Choices and Consequences; Diffusion Processes
• Subject: Labor Markets ; Technological Change ; Polarization ; Skills

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Pintera, Jan
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (who): Charles University in Prague, Institute of Economic Studies (IES)
• (where): Prague
• (when): 2022

Further information

• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/272799
• Last update: 10.03.2025, 11:44 AM CET