Wage Differentials Across Labor Markets and Workers: Does Cost of Living Matter?

Standard estimates of wage differentials rarely control for interarea differences in cost of living.his study develops an index for 182 metropolitan areas, comrising 65 percent of the US labour force. Wage equations are estimated using Current Population Survey earnings files for 1985093, based on nominal wages, wages fully adjusted for measured cost of living, and an approximation of "real" wages based on a simple regression adjustment for price level differences.