VOX  CEPR Policy Portal

Income inequality has risen throughout the advanced world. Various explanations have been suggested for this, but these tend to focus on who you are. This column shifts the focus to where you work. Data from the US reveal that over the period 1992-2007, two-thirds of the rise in earnings dispersion was due to increased variation across establishments. Moreover, almost 80% of the increase in earnings dispersion among workers who remained at the same establishment from year to year was due to a widening of wages across establishments rather than within establishments.