A note on employment and wage polarization in the U.S.

Cerina, Fabio;Moro, Alessio;Rendall, Michelle

2021-01-01

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Abstract

We compare employment and wage polarization in the U.S. using different sample periods and the inclusion or not of agricultural occupations, reporting three main findings. First, a similar degree of employment polarization can emerge together or without wage polarization, depending on the sample period considered. Next, we show that removing agricultural occupations from the sample dramatically changes the results with respect to the case in which these are included: i) wage polarization emerges and the degree of employment polarization increases and ii) the timing of employment polarization changes, and some U-shape of changes in employment shares is observed before 1980.