Data and code for: Wage Stagnation and the Decline of Standardized Pay Rates

Name	File Type	Size	Last Modified
V2			02/01/2022 02:45:PM

Project Citation:

Massenkoff, Maxim, and Wilmers, Nathan. Data and code for: Wage Stagnation and the Decline of Standardized Pay Rates. Nashville, TN: American Economic Association [publisher], 2022. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2022-12-08. https://doi.org/10.3886/E151441V1

Project Description

Summary: We use new establishment-by-occupation microdata to show that the wage stagnation of the 1970s and 80s was linked to a decline in standardized pay. Increasingly, wages for blue-collar workers were not fixed by job title or seniority, but instead subject to managerial discretion. From 1974 to 1991, employers nearly doubled their use of discretionary pay-setting. Panel regressions show that wages fell under the new pay-setting approach, particularly for the lowest-paid workers in a job and for those in establishments that previously paid above market rates. In an era of declining worker bargaining power, increasing employer discretion over pay-setting facilitated wage stagnation.

Scope of Project

Subject Terms: wages and salaries

JEL Classification:
J31 Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials
J33 Compensation Packages; Payment Methods

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V1 [2022-12-08]

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