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Data and Code for: Employment Inequality: Why Do the Low-Skilled Work Less Now?
Principal Investigator(s): View help for Principal Investigator(s) Erin Wolcott, Middlebury College
Version: View help for Version V1
Project Citation:
Wolcott, Erin. Data and Code for: Employment Inequality: Why Do the Low-Skilled Work Less Now? Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2020-09-18. https://doi.org/10.3886/E122021V1
Project Description
Summary:
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These files contain the programs and data for the journal article "Employment Inequality: Why Do the Low-Skilled Work Less Now?,"
Abstract: Low-skilled prime-age men are less likely to be employed than high-skilled prime-age men, and the differential has increased since the 1970s. I build a search model encompassing three explanations: (1) automation and trade reduced the demand for low-skilled workers; (2) health, welfare, and recreational gaming/computer technology reduced the supply of low-skilled workers; and (3) factors affecting job search, such as online job boards, reduced frictions for high-skilled workers. I find a shift in demand away from low-skilled workers was the leading cause, a shift in supply had little effect, and search frictions actually reduced employment inequality.
Abstract: Low-skilled prime-age men are less likely to be employed than high-skilled prime-age men, and the differential has increased since the 1970s. I build a search model encompassing three explanations: (1) automation and trade reduced the demand for low-skilled workers; (2) health, welfare, and recreational gaming/computer technology reduced the supply of low-skilled workers; and (3) factors affecting job search, such as online job boards, reduced frictions for high-skilled workers. I find a shift in demand away from low-skilled workers was the leading cause, a shift in supply had little effect, and search frictions actually reduced employment inequality.
Funding Sources:
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National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program (DGE-1144086)
Scope of Project
Subject Terms:
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Inequality;
Employment;
Search Model;
Labor Market Tightness
Geographic Coverage:
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United States
Time Period(s):
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1979 – 2007
Data Type(s):
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program source code;
survey data
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