The Growing Wage Gap: Is Training the Answer?

The papers presented in this conference highlightthree concerns with current labor marketoutcomes in the United States—stagnant or declining real wages, stagnantproductivity growth, and a widening gap in the wages ofskilled and unskilled workers. Several recent examinations(for example, Brauer and Hickok 1994, Freeman 1994, andLynch 1994) have concluded that one of the solutions torising wage inequality is to increase the level of trainingand education of the work force. This paper examines inmore detail the potential role and limitations of workplacetraining in ameliorating the growing gap in earningsacross skill groups in the United States, along with itsimpact on the level of wages and productivity.[...]