The distribution of income, the rate of pay raises, and the mobility of employees is crucial to understanding labor economics. Although research abounds on the distribution of wages across individuals in the economy, wage differentials within firms remain a mystery to economists. The first effort to examine linked employer-employee data across countries, The Structure of Wages: An International Comparison analyzes labor trends and their institutional background in the United States and eight European countries. A distinguished team of contributors reveal how a rising wage variance rewards star.

Series from jacket.

Wage structure, raises, and mobility : an introduction to international comparisons of the structure of wages within and across firms / Edward P. Lazear and Kathryn L. Shaw -- Adjusting imperfect data : overview and case studies / Lars Vilhuber -- Wage structure and labor mobility in the United States / John M. Abowd, John Haltiwanger and Julia Lane -- Wage and labor mobility in Denmark, 1980-2000 / Tor Eriksson and Niels Westergaard-Nielsen -- Wage structure and labor mobility in the Netherlands, 1999-2003 / Lex Borghans and Ben Kriechel -- Finland : firm factors in wages and wage changes / Roope Uusitalo and Juhana Vartiainen -- Wage structure and firm productivity in Belgium / Thierry Lallemand, Robert Plasman and François Rycx -- Wage dispersion between and within plants : Sweden 1985-2000 / Oskar Nordström Skans, Per-Anders Edin and Bertil Holmlund -- Wage structure and labor mobility in the West German private sector, 1993-2000 / Holger Alda, Lutz Bellmann, and Hermann Gartner -- Wage structure and labor mobility in Norway, 1980-97 / Arngrim Hunnes, Jarle Møen, and Kjell G. Salvanes -- Wage mobility and dynamics in Italy in the 1990s / Bruno Contini, Bruno Roberto Leombruni, Lia Pacelli, and Claudia Villosio -- Wage structure in France,1977-96 / Francis Kramarz, and Sébastien Perez-Duarte -- Wage structure and labor mobility in Sweden, 1970-90 / Paul Oyer.