Christian Moser

Earnings Inequality and the Minimum Wage: Evidence from Brazil

American Economic Review · 2022 · 159 citations

Increases in the minimum wage can substantially reduce earnings inequality. To demonstrate this, we combine administrative and survey data with an equilibrium model of the Brazilian labor market. We find that a 128 percent increase in the real minimum wage in Brazil between 1996 and 2018 had far-reaching spillover effects on wages higher up in the distribution. The increased minimum wage accounts for 45 percent of a large fall in earnings inequality over this period. At the same time, the effect…

Firm pay dynamics

Journal of Econometrics · 2022 · 57 citations

We study the nature of firm pay dynamics. To this end, we propose a statistical model that extends the seminal framework by Abowd et al. (1999) to allow for idiosyncratically time-varying firm pay policies. We estimate the model using linked employer–employee data for Sweden from 1985 to 2016. By drawing on detailed firm financials data, we show that firms that become more productive and accumulate capital raise pay, whereas firms lower pay as they add workers. A secular increase in firm-year pa…

The Gender Pay Gap: Micro Sources and Macro Consequences

American Economic Review · 2023-09-06 · 30 citations

Using linked employer-employee data from Brazil, we document a significant gender pay gap, which is largely attributed to women working at lower-paying employers. To interpret this fact, we develop an equilibrium search model with endogenous firm pay, amenities, and hiring. We provide a constructive proof of identification of all model parameters. The estimated model suggests that amenities are important for both men and women, and that compensating differentials account for half of the gender p…

The Gender Pay Gap: Micro Sources and Macro Consequences

SSRN Electronic Journal · 2024-01-01 · 13 citations

The Gender Pay Gap: Micro Sources and Macro Consequences

SSRN Electronic Journal · 2025-01-01 · 8 citations