We propose a simple methodology for decomposing differences in the first moment into characteristics and coefficients effects. This methodology provides a way to apply the Blinder-Oaxaca decomposition to a non-linear function for both aggregate and detailed decompositions.

This paper studies the cause of the changes in male wage inequality in East Germany during its transition from a socialist to a market-oriented economic system. We are interested in how much of the change in the dispersion of wages can be explained by the changes in the characteristics of...

This paper provides a statistical analysis of the determinants of attitudes towards foreigners displayed by Europeans sampled in Eurobarometer surveys in 1988 and 1997. Europeans who compete with immigrants in the labor market have more negative attitudes towards foreigners. In addition, an...

We examine the earnings determinants of the self-employed and wage earners in Hungary in the mid-1990's, taking into account two forms of selection: selection into working or nonworking for every individual in our sample and selection into self-employment or wageearning jobs for workers only....

East Germany, a unique socialist command economy prior to the 1990s, underwent rapid transition to a market-oriented economic system. This transition has been of intense interest given the environment of Eastern Germany vis-a-vis Western Germany, a setting different from most other transition...

Kosovo is a war-torn corner of the former Yugoslavia, where a civil war between ethnic Albanians and ethnic Serbs raged during most of the 1990s. We examine the incidence and depth of poverty and some of its correlates in post-conflict Kosovo using the Living Standards Measurement Survey.

This paper joins discussions on normalized regression and decomposition equations in devising a simple and general algorithm for obtaining the normalized regression and applying it to the Oaxaca decomposition. This resolves the invariance problem in the detailed Oaxaca decomposition. An...

We study the dynamics of the cross-section distribution of patents per capita for the 48 continental U.S. states from 1930 to 2000 using a discrete-state Markov chain. We test for and find evidence in favor of the (knowledge) convergence hypothesis as we find that the distribution of patents is...

We compare male and female upward labor income mobility in Germany and the United States using the GSOEP-PSID Cross National Equivalent File. Our main interest is to test whether a glass ceiling exists for women. The standard glass ceiling hypothesis highlights the belief that the playing field...

We examine the upward labor income mobility of men and women in Germany using the GSOEP Cross National Equivalent File. Women have greater overall income mobility. However, utilizing a measure of upward income mobility and calculating the posterior probability that men?s upward income mobility...