We provide novel insights on the functional distribution of income in the postwar US economy, based on a Log Mean Divisia Index decomposition of the labor share by 14 sectors. We identify contributions from four components: real compensation, labor productivity, employment shares, and relative prices. The results are presented for the entire period as well as golden age (1948–1979) and neoliberal era (1979–2017), painting a detailed picture of structural changes. We find that (1) real compensation and labor productivity dominate; (2) manufacturing plays an important role in the recent decline of the labor share; (3) employment shifts toward service sectors with higher labor shares have buffered the decline; and (4) relative prices of services are increasing. We discuss these results in the context of Baumol’s and Lewis’s seminal contributions. Both theories build on the notion of coexistence of progressive and stagnant activities, which is documented in our sectoral decomposition.

中文翻译：

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美国各行业劳动力份额下降

我们基于对 14 个部门劳动力份额的对数平均除法指数分解，提供了关于战后美国经济中收入功能分配的新见解。我们确定了四个组成部分的贡献：实际薪酬、劳动生产率、就业份额和相对价格。结果显示了整个时期以及黄金时代（1948-1979）和新自由主义时代（1979-2017），描绘了结构变化的详细图景。我们发现（1）实际薪酬和劳动生产率占主导地位；(2) 制造业在近期劳动力份额下降中扮演重要角色；(3) 就业向劳动力比重较高的服务业转移缓冲了下降趋势；(4)服务的相对价格在上涨。我们在鲍莫尔和刘易斯的开创性贡献的背景下讨论这些结果。