Reflections on the Inter-Industry Wage Structure

Alan B. Krueger, Lawrence H. Summers

NBER Working Paper No. 1968 (Also Reprint No. r0850)
Issued in April 1987
NBER Program(s):   EFG   LS

This paper reviews available evidence on the inter-industry wage structure. The inter-industry wage structure is remarkably similar in different eras, in different countries, and among different types of workers. Industries with high capital-to-labor ratios, monopoly power and high profits pay relatively high wages. We conclude that the competitive model cannot without substantial modification provide an adequate explanation of the

inter-industry wage structure. The implications of this finding for micro and macro economic theory and policy are examined.

(472 K)

(347 K)

Published:

• Krueger, Alan B. and Lawrence H. Summers."Reflections on the Inter-Industry Wage Structure," Unemployment and the Structure of Labor Markets, eds. K. Lang and J. Leonard, Oxford, Basil Blackwell, 1987 ,
• Krueger, Alan B. and Lawrence H. Summers. "Efficiency Wages And The Inter-Industry Wage Structure," Econometrica, 1988, v56(2), 259-294.

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