ABSTRACT

Seminal work by Goldin and Margo (1992 Goldin, C. D. and R. A. Margo.1992. The great compression: The wage structure in the United States at mid-century. Quarterly Journal of Economics 107 (1):1–34. https://doi.org/10.2307/2118322.[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) used the first available microdata samples of the United States decennial census to document the narrowing of the wage structure between 1940 and 1960, a pattern they refer to as the “Great Compression.” We revisit their findings using newly available, substantially enlarged samples of the decennial censuses covering this period. Our findings largely replicate the patterns initially reported by Goldin and Margo. However, differences emerge when estimating rates of return to education and experience for specific groups and in a decomposition exercise. A second goal is to indicate directions for future research that might benefit from the use of the complete count census data.

摘要

Goldin和Margo（1992年 高丁，CD和RA Margo。1992年。巨大的压力：本世纪中期美国的工资结构。经济学季刊107（1）：1 – 34。https://doi.org/ 10.2307 / 2118322。[Crossref]，[Web of Science®]， [Google Scholar]）使用了美国十年一次人口普查的第一个可用的微观数据样本来记录1940年至1960年之间工资结构的缩小，这种模式被他们称为“大压缩”。我们使用涵盖该时期的十年一次的人口普查的新近获得的，实质性扩大的样本来重新审视他们的发现。我们的发现在很大程度上重复了Goldin和Margo最初报道的模式。但是，在估算特定群体的教育收益和经验以及分解活动时，会出现差异。第二个目标是指出将来的研究方向，这些方向可能会受益于使用完整计数普查数据。