What Drove Housing Wealth Inequality in China?

Although China is experiencing a deterioration in wealth distribution where housing is playing a dominant role, this issue has received scant research attention despite its importance. Combining four rounds of the China Household Finance Survey (CHFS) data, this paper measures and discusses wealth inequality in China, with a special emphasis on the contribution of housing. Our analysis reveals that housing is the largest contributor to wealth inequality, responsible for around 70 percent of total wealth inequality, and its contribution has been increasing over time. Our research efforts have focused on the housing wealth disparity, exploring its composition from alternative perspectives. The results show that housing wealth inequality has also been rising over time and an absolute majority of housing wealth inequality is due to within‐group gaps. Finally, we employ Wan's (2004) regression‐based decomposition methodology to quantify the contributions of different determinants to housing wealth disparity in China, and to demonstrate serious biases in the conventional approach that is often used to analyze housing wealth inequality.     

Are Occupations Paid What They are Worth? An Econometric Study of Occupational Wage Inequality and Productivity

Labour economists typically assume that pay differences between occupations can be explained with variations in productivity. The empirical evidence on the validity of this assumption is surprisingly thin and subject to various potential biases. The authors use matched employer-employee panel data from Belgium for the years 1999–2006 to examine occupational productivity-wage gaps. They find that occupations play distinct roles for remuneration and productivity: while the estimations indicate a significant upward-sloping occupational wage-profile, the hypothesis of a flat productivity-profile cannot be rejected. The corresponding pattern of over- and underpayment stands up to a series of robustness tests.     

Do Wages Continue Increasing at Older Ages? Evidence on the Wage Cushion in the Netherlands

In this study, we investigate the anatomy of older workers’ wages. The central question is whether the wage cushion—i.e., the difference between actual wages and collectively agreed-upon (maximum) contractual wages—contributes to the fact that wages continue increasing at older ages. We follow the wages of individual workers in twenty-two sectors of industry in the Netherlands using administrative data for the period 2006–2010. In the public sector, we find no evidence of a wage cushion. Wage scale ceilings set in collective agreements are guiding for older workers’ wages, and workers earning a contractual wage equal to a wage scale ceiling are not compensated with higher additional wages. In the private sector, we do find evidence of a wage cushion. Wage scale ceilings are less restrictive and workers earning a contractual wage exceeding the highest wage scale ceiling experience higher contractual wage growth. The private sector wage cushion enhances wage differentiation and allows for wages that continue increasing at older ages.     

An Analysis of Black–White Wage Differences in Nursing: Wage Gap or Wage Premium?

This paper analyzes whether a black–white racial wage differential exists in the nursing labor market in the US. Despite claims of a nursing shortage, little examination of whether racial inequalities in the labor market might contribute to this purported shortage has occurred. Possible explanations for black–white differences in RN compensation include racial differences in: occupation; returns to skills; metropolitan residency; union membership. Regression analysis on wages for registered nurses (RNs) was conducted. Findings suggest a wage penalty for non-union black nurses compared to non-union white nurses as well as the absence of a racial wage differential for union nurses.     

Wage dispersion in Germany and the US: is there compression from below?

Wage compression from below is a common diagnosis for Germany compared to the U.S. We develop alternative hypotheses in order to identify the so-called accordion effect, i.e. reduced inter-quantile distances below the median especially for low skilled and other ill-paid groups. Our results are partly at odds with wide-spread beliefs. Using large micro data sources we find evidence of an accordion effect at the low end of the distribution for the U.S. The results for Germany, however, are contrary to what one would have expected in case of marked wage compression from below. For low-skilled workers of both genders and for female workers in general we find higher inter-quantile distances below rather than above the median. By contrast, there is strong evidence for the accordion effect if skilled male workers are considered.     

What Explains Wage Differences Between Union Members and Covered Nonmembers?

An individual covered by a collective bargaining agreement but who is not a union member is estimated to earn about 13% lower wages than a union member. Sectors with relatively few covered nonmembers are associated with a large coverage differential, while sectors with high proportions of covered nonmembers are associated with small differentials. This suggests freeriders either weaken the bargaining position of the union or weak bargaining positions increase the incentive to freeride. Only a modest amount of this differential is accounted for by unmeasured ability, the probationary period associated with newly hired union workers, or union status misclassification.     

Gender Wage Inequality and Economic Growth: Is There Really a Puzzle?-A Comment

Seguino (2000) shows that gender wage discrimination in export-oriented semi-industrialized countries might be fostering investment and growth in general. While the original analysis does not have internationally comparable wage discrimination data, we replicate the analysis using data from a meta-study on gender wage discrimination and do not find any evidence that more discrimination might further economic growth-on the contrary: if anything the impact of gender inequality is negative for growth. Standing up for more gender equality-also in terms of wages-is good for equity considerations and at least not negative for growth.     

What is a market crash?

Crashes, measured as strong price decreases, are sometimes difficult to reconcile with historical events. This can be explained by the fact that a price variation will have a greater negative impact in a stable financial context than a similar variation during a highly volatile period. For example, French stocks decreased painlessly by 16 per cent in August 2002, whereas a similar fall in January 1882 led to the failure of several brokers. Market volatility was very low at the end of the nineteenth century, whereas investors are now used to dealing with large price movements. A fall of 16 per cent was much more of a shock in 1882 than it would be today. To control for the instability of the volatility, a new method for identifying crashes is proposed. Each price variation is measured in numbers of standard deviations of the preceding period. These adjusted variations can then be ranked to identify the worst market crashes. This method is tested on four long‐term series. A better match between crashes and historical events is achieved than with pure price variations. This improved matching brings new insights to several historical debates.     

What is happening to China's GDP statistics?

This paper argues that official Chinese statistics contain major exaggerations of real output growth beginning 1998. The standard data contain numerous inconsistencies. Chinese commentaries castigate widespread falsification at lower levels and question the autheticity of figures emanating from the central statistical authorities. The author speculates that cumulative GDP growth during 1997/2001 was no more one-third of official claims, and possibly much smaller.     

What is Driving the Pollution Abatement Expenditure Behavior of Manufacturing Plants in Korea?

Relatively little is known about the environmental behavior of manufacturing plants in Korea. We address this lacuna by reporting the results of a survey designed to assess the scope of plant-level pollution abatement expenditures, the intensity of plant-level exposure to regulatory actions and community pressure, and the impact of each on abatement expenditures. Survey results reveal substantial expenditures on pollution abatement and significant exposure to regulatory actions and community pressure. Two-stage least squares (TSLS) estimation of a responsive regulation type model suggests that Korean regulators may be engaged in responsive regulation that works and that plant characteristics (size, productivity, and ownership) and community pressure also affect plant-level abatement expenditures.     

Wage differentials between local and foreign workers in Macao: Discrimination?

This paper looks into the wage differential between local and foreign workers in Macao. We applied standard wage decomposition techniques to official wage statistics to identify wage gaps according to sector and occupation, among other dimensions. The results suggest that, in addition to wage discrimination against foreign workers as a whole, Macao’s employers tend to pay skilled foreign workers premium wages, whereas less-skilled foreign workers receive lower wages than their local counterparts.     

What Blows in with the Wind?

The shift toward renewable forms of energy for electricity generation in the electricity generation industry has clear implications for the spatial distribution of generating plant. Traditional forms of generation are typically located close to the load or population centers, while wind‐ and solar‐powered generation must be located where the energy source is found. In the case of wind, this has meant significant new investment in wind plant in primarily rural areas that have been in secular economic decline. This article investigates the localized economic impacts of the rapid increase in wind power capacity at the county level in Texas. Unlike input‐output impact analysis that relies primarily on levels of inputs to estimate gross impacts, we use traditional econometric methods to estimate net localized impacts in terms of employment, personal income, property tax base, and key public school expenditure levels. While we find evidence that both direct and indirect employment impacts are modest, significant increases in per capita income accompany wind power development. County and school property tax rolls also realize important benefits from the local siting of utility scale wind power, although peculiarities in Texas school funding shift localized property tax benefits to the state.