Did wage inequality increase in Portugal? Yes, and for good reasons

ABSTRACT

As in Anglo-Saxon countries, wage inequality increased in Portugal from the beginning of the 1980s to the end of the 2000s. Using data from a matched employer-employee data set and reweighting methods, we show that the increased wage inequality in Portugal is fundamentally explained by compositional changes in the employment structure related to the modernization of the labour market.

KEYWORDS:

• Inequality
• reweighting
• wages
• wage distribution

JEL CLASSIFICATION:

• J00
• J31
• D63

Data availability statement

The data used in this research were obtained from INE (Institituto Nacional de Estatística) under an agreement between the Ministry of Science and Technology of Portugal and INE. Further information on how to access these data can be found at: http://www.dgeec.mec.pt/np4/46/

Disclosure statement

I declare that there are no conflicts of interest involved in this research.

Additional information

Funding

This paper is financed by National Funds of the FCT – Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology [«UIDB/04007/2020»].