TY  - JOUR
AU  - Blank,Rebecca M.
TI  - Public Sector Growth and Labor Market Flexibility: The United States vs. The United Kingdom
JF  - National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series
VL  - No. 4339
PY  - 1993
Y2  - April 1993
UR  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w4339
L1  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w4339.pdf
N1  - Author contact info:
Rebecca M. Blank
Under Secretary for Economic Affairs
Department of Commerce
Economics and Statistics Administration
Herbert C. Hoover Building, Room 4848
1401 Constitution Avenue, NW
Washington, DC  20230
Tel: 202-482-3727
Fax: 202-482-0432
E-Mail: rblank@doc.gov
AB  - This paper investigates whether a larger public sector limits labor market adjustment, using data from the United States and the United Kingdom, two countries with quite different public/private employment trends. The results indicate that the two countries have a similar mix of occupations and workers in the public versus the private sector. Both countries have experienced some overall convergence of the public/private wage differential over the 1980s, although the extent of this differential varies substantially by occupation and gender. Both countries have also seen wage inequality in the public and private sectors increase over the past decade. Variability in public sector employment and wages over time is generally as great as in the private sector, although the cyclical patterns are different. The US public sector, however, seems more responsive to private sector demand changes than does the public sector in the UK. The paper concludes that the public sectors of both countries show a substantial amount of change and adaptation, particularly over the past decade.
ER  -