Table 4.23

Factors contributing to the productivity/compensation gap, 1973–2011

1973–1979 1979–1995 1995–2000 2000–2011 1973–2011
A. Basic trends (annual change)
Median hourly wage -0.26% -0.15% 1.50% 0.05% 0.10%
Median hourly compensation 0.56 -0.17 1.13 0.35 0.27
Average hourly compensation 0.59 0.55 2.10 0.95 0.87
Productivity 1.08 1.29 2.33 1.88 1.56
Productivity/median compensation gap 0.52 1.46 1.21 1.53 1.30
B. Explanatory factors (percentage-point contribution to gap)
Inequality of compensation 0.02 0.72 0.97 0.59 0.61
Shift in labor’s share of income 0.03 0.23 -0.40 0.69 0.25
Divergence of consumer and output prices 0.46 0.51 0.64 0.24 0.44
Total 0.52 1.46 1.22 1.52 1.29
C. Explanatory factors (percent contribution to gap)
Inequality of compensation 4.8% 49.6% 80.0% 38.9% 46.9%
Shift in labor’s share of income 5.5 15.4 -32.5 45.3 19.0
Divergence of consumer and output prices 89.7 35.0 52.5 15.8 34.0
Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

Note: Rows in panels A and B show log annual change.

Source: Authors' analysis of Mishel and Gee (2012, Table 1)

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