Table 4b

Share of wage variance explained by detailed occupations, 1979–2007

Men Women
Variance of log wages Variance explained by detailed occupations Share explained by detailed occupations Variance of log wages Variance explained by detailed occupations Share explained by detailed occupations
1979 0.250 0.051 20.6% 0.188 0.055 29.4%
1989 0.327 0.088 26.9 0.273 0.101 36.8
2000 0.355 0.097 27.3 0.301 0.102 34.0
2007 0.384 0.102 26.5 0.338 0.106 31.3
Change
1979–1989 0.077 0.036 47.3 0.085 0.045 53.4
1989–2000 0.028 0.009 32.7 0.028 0.002 6.0
2000–2007 0.029 0.005 17.0 0.037 0.004 9.9

Note: Variance explained by detailed occupations is found by multiplying the variance of log wages by the partial R-square values presented in Table 4a, which isolate the explanatory power of detailed occupations net of other controls in cross-sectional OLS wage regressions.

Source: Authors' analysis of Current Population Survey Outgoing Rotation group microdata

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