The Stable Wage Distribution in Japan, 1982-2002: A Counter Example for SBTC?
نویسندگان
چکیده
The wage distribution has been almost stable in Japan for the last two decades, contrary to findings in the USA, Canada, and the UK. The change in the wage distribution during this period was almost completely caused by a distributional change in workers’ attributes. This implies that skill prices were very stable between 1982 and 2002. Both demand and supply for skilled workers have increased because of a skillbiased technical change, and a rise in the number of college-educated workers induced by educational policy changes and the aging of the population. In the balance of the shifts in demand and supply, the skill price has been stable. After netting out the effect of the supply increase of skilled labor, we robustly find evidence for skillbiased technical change. JEL Classification: J23; J31
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