Equitable Growth Presents: Revisiting the Labor Market as a Driver of Income Inequality

Is income inequality locked in before workers even enter the labor force? Could established research showing that the labor market is a driver of inequality over the lifecycle be wrong?

Using their Global Repository of Income Dynamics database, economists Fatih Guvenen at the University of Toronto, Luigi Pistaferri at Stanford University, and David Price at the University of Toronto examine income inequality over the lifecycle in 12 countries. Their findings suggest that in most countries, inequality does not increase with age, and that human capital may be the driving force behind income inequality in most countries.

Our panelists discussed the implications and answer questions about the role of labor market institutions, what’s behind increasing lifecycle inequality for workers above median earnings, and whether and how AI might change workplaces.

This event was an installment of “Equitable Growth Presents: Evidence for a Stronger Economy,” a lecture series that seeks to foster a deeper understanding of cutting-edge research and analysis on economic inequality and growth. These lectures bring together leading scholars to explore how new research is shifting important conversations in academia and economic policy.

Participants

Moderator: Austin Clemens, visiting fellow at the Washington Center for Equitable Growth

Luigi Pistaferri, the Ray Lyman Wilbur Professor of Economics at Stanford University

Suresh Naidu, Professor of International and Public Affairs and Jack Wang and Echo Ren Professor of Economics at Columbia University

Shariq Mohammed, assistant professor of economics at Northeastern University

Maya Rossin-Slater, the Josephine Knotts Knowles Professor of Human Biology and an associate professor of health policy at Stanford University

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