Occupations, skill prices and changes in the wage structure ( with Chris Taber)

Abstract:
This paper tries to understand the role of occupational composition and the payments to multi-dimensional skills in explaining recent changes in the wage structure. We quantify the relative role of supply, demand and frictions in accounting for the rise in wage inequality, the declining median wage and the reallocation of labor away from manual occupations. We specify and estimate a structural model to address these empirical issues.