This paper provides novel insights on the changing functional distribution of income in the post-war US economy. We present a Divisia index decomposition of the US labor share (1948–2017) by fourteen sectors. The decomposition method furnishes exact contributions from four components towards...

We study the joint impact of three measurement issues in the empirical literature on the labor share: (i) start and end periods for the empirical analysis; (ii) accounting for self-employment; and (iii) accounting for residential real estate income. When we correct for these three potential...

Over the past seventy years developed economies have experienced a rise and a fall in labor share. We present a novel explanation to explain these observed trends -- public enterprise employment. First, we document an empirical link between labor share and public enterprise employment in a...

The determinants of the labor share of national income have been investigated by numerous studies. However, there is no consensus for what exactly affects the income differentials of workers, especially after the triumph of neoliberal policies prevailed after 1980s across all countries,...

As shown in the 1930s by Hicks and Robinson, the elasticity of substitution (σ) is a key parameter that captures whether capital and labor are gross complements or substitutes. Establishing the magnitude of σ is vital, not only for explaining changes in the distribution of income between...

The functional income distribution in the US and most OECD countries has been characterized by an increasing capital income share and a declining wage share over the last decades. We present new evidence for the US economy that this fact is not only explained by technical change and...

The labor share in Japan has been declining significantly over the last three decades, accompanied by persistent stagnation and an unprecedented increase in economic inequalities. Since these dynamics are likely to be interrelated, understanding the drivers of the labor share might contribute...

This study provides evidence for the US that the secular decline in the labor share is not only explained by technical change or globalization, but also by the dynamics of factor taxation, automation capital (robots), and population growth. First, we empirically find indications of...

We examine the empirical relationship between the institutions of economic freedom and labor shares in a panel up to 93 countries covering 1970 through 2009. We find that a standard deviation increase in the Fraser Institute's Economic Freedom of the World (EFW) score is associated about 1/3...

This study provides evidence for the US that the secular decline in the labor share is not only explained by technical change or globalization, but also by the dynamics of factor taxation, automation capital (robots), and population growth. First, we empirically find indications of...