The declining share of manufacturing jobs in overall employment has been a concern for policymakers and the broader public alike. Part of this concern stems from the widely held belief that manufacturing offers a unique source of well-paid jobs for less-skilled workers, and that the loss of...

We examine the extent to which declining manufacturing employment may have contributed to increasing inequality in advanced economies. This contribution is typically small, except in the United States. We explore two possible explanations: the high initial manufacturing wage premium and the high...