Labor Compensation Inequality and the Evolution of Labor Income Shares
While the topic of labor income inequality has been at the center of recent economic and political debates, researchers have focused mainly on wage data. However, nonwage benefits now account for about one-third of workers’ total compensation. Economists Grace Gu and Eswar Prasad will document and analyze the evolution of compensation inequality over the period from 1982 to 2018 and examine the extent to which different components of nonwage benefits exacerbate or mitigate wage inequality. This project will also shed light on the role of the financial crisis and the ensuing recession and recovery in affecting the inequality of different components of compensation.