Inequality of individual wages and the dispersion of firm productivity

Many blame globalisation for growing wage inequality in the UK. But according to research by Giulia Faggio, Kjell Salvanes and John Van Reenen, the rise in inequality is better explained by increasing dispersion in the productivity of firms related to their use of new technology. Their study finds that much of the rise in wage inequality is driven by increasing differences in wages among firms in the same industry. A major driver of such differences is firms’ varying ability to make use of new technology. This is particularly felt in the service sector.