The Great Compression of the 1940s: The Public versus the Private Sector

Between 1940 and 1950 wage differentials narrowed substantially, a phenomenon that economic historians have called the “Great Compression.” This paper dis-aggregates the Great Compression into changes within and between the public and private sectors. We show that wage differentials declined in the public sector as well as in the private sector; had the public sector decline not taken place, the Great Compression would have been substantially smaller. In this regard, the experience of the 1940s stands in stark contrast with that of the past two decades, during which a relatively rigid public sector wage structure has dampened overall increases in wage inequality.     

我国改革开放30年辉煌成就分析:人力资本与人才制度创新视角

本文运用新经济增长理论和新制度经济学理论,从人才制度创新与人力资本的视角,探讨了我国改革开放30年经济发展的成就,进行了实证分析,证明了人才制度创新、人力资本与经济发展具有高度相关的关系。