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ONMEASURINGTHELABOURINCOMESHARE
DrBenjaminCaswell
NationalInstituteofEconomicandSocialResearch
NIESRDiscussionPaperNo.55630April2024
AbouttheNationalInstituteofEconomicandSocialResearch
TheNationalInstituteofEconomicandSocialResearchisBritain'slongestestablishedindependentresearchinstitute,foundedin1938.Thevisionofourfounderswastocarryoutresearchtoimproveunderstandingoftheeconomicandsocialforcesthataffectpeople’slives,andthewaysinwhichpolicycanbringaboutchange.Overeightyyearslater,thisremainscentraltoNIESR’sethos.Wecontinuetoapplyourexpertiseinbothquantitativeandqualitativemethodsandourunderstandingofeconomicandsocialissuestocurrentdebatesandtoinfluencepolicy.TheInstituteisindependentofallparty-politicalinterests.
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ThispaperwasfirstpublishedinApril2024
CompetingInterestStatement:Theviewsexpressedinthispaperarebasedonresearchandarenotattributedtotheorganizationstowhichtheresearchersareaffiliated.Therearenoconflictsofinterest.Theusualdisclaimerapplies.
©NationalInstituteofEconomicandSocialResearch2024
OnMeasuringtheLabourIncomeShare
DrBenjaminCaswell
Abstract
Thelabourincomeshareplaysakeyroleasaparameterinmacroeconomicmodelsandhas
motivatedabodyofliteraturewithregardstoitsapparentdecline.Despiteitscrucial
importance,thereexistsnorobustconsensusonhowtoquantifythelabourincomeshareinpractice.Thispaperexploressomeoftheconceptualissuessurroundingmeasurementand
providesanovelempiricalapplicationutilisingUKsectorlevelnationalaccountsdata.
Specifically,thisinvolvesimputingproprietorlabourincomeatthesectorlevelandthenaggregatinguptothewholeeconomy.Thispaperdemonstratesthatthedisaggregated
approachamplifiesmeasurementerrorsundercertainimputationassumptions.
Classification:E01,E25,P2
Keywords:aggregateincome,labourincomeshare,nationalaccounts,measurement
1
Introduction
Theconceptofthelabourshareofincomedatesbacktoclassicaleconomics.Accordingly,Ricardo(1817)openshismagnumopusbywayofemphasisingitsimportance.
‘Indifferentstagesofsociety,theproportionsofthewholeproduce[…]underthenamesofrent,profit,andwages,willbeessentiallydifferent.Todeterminethelawswhichregulatethisdistribution,istheprincipalprobleminpoliticaleconomy.’
However,justovertwocenturieslater,thereremainsnoexactconsensusonhowtoquantifytheportionofaggregateincomewhichaccruestolabour.Theprimaryreasonforthisisthatwecannotdirectlyobservealllabourincome.
Specifically,unincorporatedenterprisesarenotseparatelegalentitiesfromtheirowners;assuch,theycanfreelymovefundsbetweenbusinessandpersonalaccounts.Forthisreason,itisnotpossibletodistinguishbetweentheirearningsfromworkandtheirentrepreneurialprofit.
Thismixednatureofself-employedincome,whichcontainsbothcapitalandlabourremunerations,necessitatesthatallestimatesofself-employedlabourincomebeimputed.Itistheseimputationassumptions,alongwithnovelempiricalestimatesfortheUKeconomy,whichareexploredinthispaper.
Thefindingsaretwofold.Firstly,thecarefultreatmentofproprietorincomeconfirmstherehasbeenadeclineintheUKlabourincomeshare.However,thisdeclinetookplaceoverthelastquarterofthe20thcentury.Sincethemillennium,theUKlabourincomesharehasbeennotablystable.
Secondly,imputingproprietorlabourincomeviaaveragehourlyemployeecompensationshouldbeavoidedunlesscompellingempiricalevidencestatesotherwise.Detailsector-leveldatademonstratessignificantmeasurementerrorassociatedwiththismethodofimputationwhichisnotcapturedattheaggregatelevel.
Background
Attemptstoformallymeasurethelabourincomesharebeganinthe20thcentury.Assuch,thefirsttaskundertakenbytheNationalBureauofEconomicResearchuponitsfoundationin
1920wastheestimationofthe‘approximatesizeand[functional]distributionofnationalincome’(King,1930).
Whiletheseearlymeasurementeffortswereoftenhamperedbytheoreticalconcernsandalackofcomprehensivedata,aconsensusgrewoverthedecadesregardingtheperceived
stabilityofthelabourincomeshare.Forexample,Keynes(1939)famouslyremarkedthat:
'Thestabilityofthe[labourincome]ratioforeachcountryischieflyremarkable,andthisappearstobealong-run,andnotmerelyashort-period,phenomenon.'
Decadeslater,Kaldor(1961)outlinedhis(noweponymous)six‘stylised’facts.Histhirdfactemphasisedtheconstancyoftheshareofnationalincomereceivedbylabour.
Consequently,thisobservedregularitybecameawidelyacceptedtruthinmacroeconomics.Itwasmathematicallyconvenientforthetractabilityofeconomicmodelsandhadsignificantempiricalsupport.Subsequently,thelabourincomeshareassumedanimportantroleasaparameterinbusinesscycleandgrowthmodels.
2
However,inthelate20thcentury,atrendbegantoemergeacrossindustrialisedeconomies:thedeclineofthelabourincomeshare.Thistrendhasmotivatedabodyofliteraturedevotedtoaccountingforthedecline.Itcanbebroadlycategorisedintotwostrands-economicphenomenonandaccountingartefact.
Thefirststrandoftheliteraturearguesthatthefallinthelabourincomesharecanbeattributedtounderlyingeconomiccauses.Thesecondarguesthattheobserveddeclinecanbeexplainedthroughalackofconsistencyinaccountingpractices.
EconomicPhenomenon:
Blanchard(2006)arguesthatchangesinlabourmarketinstitutionsandthecurbingofunionpowersacrossindustrialisedeconomiesoverthelastquarterofthetwentiethcenturyreducedthecollectivebargainingpoweroflabourandsubsequentlybroughtaboutafallintheshareoflabourincome.
HarrisonandMcMillan(2006)suggestthatglobalisationhasopenedupgoodsandlabourmarketstocompetitionfromaroundtheworldandthatthishasexerteddownwardpressureonwagesandthelabourincomeshare.
Similarly,Elbsy,etal(2013)claimthatthedeclineinthelabourincomesharehasitsoriginsinglobalisationandtheoffshoringoflabour-intensiveproductiontoeconomieswithlowerlabourcosts.
KarabarbounisandNeiman(2014)arguethatinvestment-specifictechnologicalchangehasreducedtherelativepriceofcapitalovertimeandcausedfirmstosubstitutelabourforcapital.Thiscapitaldeepeningexertsdownwardpressureonthelabourincomeshare.
Alternatively,Lawrence(2015)proposesanexplanationthatdoesnotrelyoncapitalandlabourbeingsubstitutes.Heclaimsthattheeffectivecapital-labourratiohasfallenascapitaldeepeninghasbeenoffsetbyrapidlabour-augmentingtechnologicalchange.Thishasincreasedtheeffectivesupplyoflabourandproducedadeclineinthelabourshareofincome.
AccountingArtefact:
Bridgeman(2014)explainsthattheratioofconsumptionoffixedcapitaltoaggregateincomehasrisenovertimeduetotheincreasedprevalenceofITgoods-whichtypicallydepreciatemorequicklythanotherinvestmentgoods.
Subsequently,anincreaseintheratioofconsumptionoffixedcapitalcancreatetheappearanceofadeclininglabourincomesharebyimplicitlyanderroneouslyoverstatingthevalueofthedenominator.Aftercontrollingforthis,heshowsthatlabourincomesharesexhibitnopersistentdeclineacrossindustrialisedeconomies.
Armenter(2015)showsthatmethodologychangesforimputingproprietorlabourincomecanaccountforpartofthedeclineinthelabourincomeshare.Heclaimsthatimputationsbasedontheassumptionthatproprietorsarecompensatedfortheirlabouratthesameaveragehourlyrateasemployees,asopposedtoaconstantfractionoftheirincomeaccruingtolabour,significantlyimpactsthetrendofthelabourincomeshareintheUS.
Koh,etal(2020)notethatintellectualpropertyproductswerepreviouslyviewedasintermediateinputsbuthavegraduallybeenreclassifiedasinvestments.Thisrevisionreassignsaportionofintermediateinputstogrossvalueadded.
3
Fromanarithmeticbasis,thisautomaticallyraisesthevalueofthedenominatorandthereforedecreasesthelabourincomeshare.Subsequently,theyarguethattheimplicitcapitalisationofintellectualpropertyproductsisthemaindriveroftheobserveddeclineinthelabourincomeshare.
ThispaperfallsintotheaccountingstrandoftheliteratureandbuildsontheworkofArmenter(2015)andMackenzie(2021).However,thefindingsofArmenter(2015)fortheUSeconomyareshowntobereversedfortheUKeconomy.
ExtendingthesectoralbasedworkofMackenzie(2021),itisshownthatimputationsbasedontheassumptionthattheself-employedreceivethesameaveragelabourcompensationasemployeeserroneouslyindicatetherehasbeennofallinthelabourincomeshareintheUK.
LabourIncomeShareMethodology
Howshouldweaccountforthelabourportionofself-employedincomewhenestimatingthelabourincomeshare?Theissueliesinseparatingself-employedincomeintoitslabourandcapitalcomponents.However,disentanglingself-employedincomerequiressubjectiveassumptionsregardingsourcesofincomewhicharenotwelldefined.ThefollowingdefinitionisausefulstartingpointforthinkingaboutthelabourincomeshareLIS:
LIS=
WhereCOEiscompensationofemployees,MIismixed(self-employed)incomeandθ∈[0,1]istheshareofself-employedincomewhichaccruestolabour.Yrepresentsgrossvalueadded.
Ascompensationofemployeesrepresentsunambiguouslabourincomeandmixedincomerepresentsambiguouscapital/labourincome,anyinternallyconsistentmeasureisboundbytheextremecasesofθ=0andθ=1.Theseloweranduppervaluesrepresenttheproductionboundary.
Twocommonmethodsforimputingself-employedlabourincomearedetailedbelow.ThefirstisfavouredbytheOfficeforNationalsStatisticsintheUK,andthesecondisfavouredbytheBureauofLabourStatisticsintheUS.
Method1:
Astraightforwardmethodforimputingself-employedlabourincomeinvolvesapportioningmixedincomebetweencapitalandlabourinequalproportiontotherestoftheeconomy.Simplyput,thisassumesthattherelativereturnstolabourandcapitalarethesameforthosewhoareemployedandself-employed(thelabourincomeshareisthesameintheincorporatedandunincorporatedsectoroftheeconomy).
COE+GOS
LIS1=COE
Pros:Method1bindsitsestimatesinsidetheproductionboundarybyonlyusingdatafromthenationalincomeaccountingidentity.Labourincomefortheself-employedcannotexceedtotalself-employedincome.
Cons:Method1doesnotdirectlyadjustforanychangesinthequantityofself-employedpeople,orthenumberofhoursworked(therelativereturnsareassumedtobeunaffectedbytheratio
4
ofemployeestoself-employedintheeconomy).Whilethisisnotinherentlyanissue,onthesurface,itappearssomewhatnaïve.
Method2:
Anothermethodforimputingself-employedlabourincomeinvolvesestimatingaverage
employeecompensationandscalingituptothetotalworkforce.Thisassumesthattheself-
employedarecompensatedfortheirlabouratthesameaveragehourlyrateasemployees(thereturntolabourisequalintheincorporatedandunincorporatedsectors).
LIS2=
WhereEisthetotalnumberofhoursworkedbyemployeesandPisthetotalnumberofhoursworkedbytheself-employed(proprietors).
Pros:Adjustsattheextensiveandintensivemarginfortherelativehoursworkedbyemployeesandproprietors.
Cons:Itdoesnotbindestimatesinsidetheproductionboundaryasitmakesnodirectreferencetomixed(self-employed)income.Itisabletoimputeavalueofself-employedlabourincomewhichexceedstotalself-employedincome.
BothmeasuresofthelabourincomeshareareillustratedinFigure1withtheproductionboundaryshadedingrey.Thisarearepresentsthefeasibleregionforvaluesofthelabourincomeshare.Thelowerboundassumesthatallmixedincomeaccruestocapitalθ=0whiletheupperboundassumesthatallmixedincomeaccruestolabourθ=1.
Figure1:LabourIncomeShareMeasures1955Q1to2021Q4
5
Method1requiresonlynationalaccountsdataandthereforehasalengthyhistoricalseriesfrom1955Q1to2021Q4.Theseriesdisplayssomestability,withthelabourincomesharehoveringaround0.65untilthemid-1970s.Afterwhich,thereisanotablespikeandthenaprotracteddeclineuntilthelate1990s.Fromaroundthemillenniumonwards,thelabourincomesharethenrecoversandstabilisesaround0.6.
Meanwhile,detaileddataonhoursworkedfortheself-employedlimitsourseriesformethod2fromtheearly1990sonwards.Bothmeasuresexhibitsimilarrelativemovementswithonlyminimalsignsofdivergence.Moreover,method2suggestsaslightlygreaterrecoveryinthelabourincomeshareafter2000,withahigheraveragevalueoverall,around0.63.
However,theLIS2seriessometimesexceedsthefeasibleproductionboundary(shadedgreyarea).Thismeansthatmethod2createsameasurewherebyimputedself-employedlabourincomeexceedstotalself-employedincome.
Subsequently,inpractice,wecanconcludethataverageemployeecompensationperhourworkedmustbesignificantlyhigherforthosewhoareemployedrelativetothosewhoareself-employed.
However,bothmethodsoutlinedaboveimposeimputationassumptionsuniformlyacrossallsectorsoftheeconomy.Thisisarestrictiveassumptionasitimpliesthatallself-employedpeoplesharethesamesplitbetweentheircapitalandlabourincome,regardlessofthesectorinwhichtheywork.
Anaturalsolutiontothisissueistoperformimputationsatthesectorlevelandthenaggregateuptothewholeeconomy.Thisincreasedgranularitycanaccountfortheheterogeneityacrosssectorsandthereforereduceinaccuraciesassociatedwithaggregateimputations.
ISIC4Disaggregation
Methods1and2areappliedusingISIC4dataforsectorsAthroughT.Wethencomparetheaggregateapproachwiththedisaggregatedapproach(superscriptD).
Method1(Disaggregated):
Method1imputationisperformedatthesectorlevel,wheresubscriptsdenoteISIC4sectorclassificationsj=A,...,T.ThelabourincomeshareineachsectoristhenweightedbyitsrelativeshareofoutputinthewholeeconomyYj/Ytoreflectthesectoralcompositionofvalueaddedintheaggregateeconomy:
LIS=+⋯+
Theassumptionformethod1(disaggregated)isthattherelativereturnstocapitalandlabourarethesameforthosewhoareemployedandself-employedineachsector.Thismeansthattherelativereturnstolabourfortheself-employedarepermittedtovaryacrosseachsector(reflectingthevariousproductionstructuresacrossdifferentsectorsoftheeconomy).
Method2(Disaggregated):
Applyingthesamenotation,Method2imputationisperformedatthesectorlevel.HoursworkedbyemployeesEjandproprietorspjineachsectorareobtainedfromthequarterly
6
LabourForceSurvey.Thelabourincomesharesineachsectorarethenweightedandsummedinthesamemannerasabovetoobtaintheaggregatemeasure:
LIS=(CAEAPA)+⋯+(CTETPT)
Theassumptionformethod2(disaggregated)isthatineachsectortheself-employedarecompensatedfortheirlabouratthesameaveragehourlyrateasemployees.Thehourlyrateofcompensationispermittedtovaryacrosssectors,reflectingthevariationinaveragehourlywagecommandedbyworkersindifferentsectors.
ThedisaggregatedapproachesareappliedandplottedbelowinFigure2indashedlines,alongsidetheseriesfromFigure1.Thisallowsustoclearlyobservetheimpactofthedisaggregatedimputationofself-employedlabourincomeoneachmeasureofthelabourincomeshare.
ISIC4sectorlevelnationalaccountsdataonlyextendsbackto1997Q1.Therefore,inFigure2,wefocusonashortertimeframetoclearlydemonstratehowdisaggregationaffectsboth
methods.
Figure2:LabourIncomeShareMeasures1992Q2to2021Q4
Ascanbeseen,method1and2behavequitedifferentlywhensubjecttoimputationatthesectorlevel.LISyieldslowervalueswhiletheLISyieldsnotablyhighervalues,onaverage.
Subsequently,thesecondmethodunderdisaggregationsuggestsanotablerecoveryinthelabourincomeshareafter2000.However,uponinspectionwecanseethatthefrequencyatwhichtheproductionboundaryisviolatedundermethod2disaggregationisamplified,ratherthanreduced.Thiscanonlyleadustoconcludethatmethod2producesaspuriousmeasureofthelabourincomeshareintheUKanderroneouslyoverestimatesitstruevalue.
Tofurtheranalysetheseeffectsasetofafewdescriptivestatisticsforeachseriesaredetailed:
7
Table1:DescriptiveStatistics1997Q1to2021Q4
DescriptiveStatistics
LIS1
LIS
LIS2
LIS
Mean
0.595
0.591
0.626
0.644
Median
0.597
0.592
0.628
0.647
StandardDeviation
0.014
0.013
0.013
0.015
Range
0.073
0.070
0.064
0.074
Autocorrelation
0.785
0.779
0.710
0.801
Overall,theimpactofthedisaggregatedimputationformethod1isminor.However,overtime,agrowinggapappearsbetweenLIS1andLIS.Thissuggestsincreasingheterogeneityintherelativefactorreturnsforproprietorsacrossdifferentsectorsoftheeconomy.
Moreover,fromTable1itcanbeobservedthatdisaggregationreducesthestandarddeviationandrangeformethod1,whileincreasingtheserialcorrelationoftheseries.Therefore,disaggregationmarginallyincreasesthestabilityofthelabourincomeshare.
Thedisaggregatedimputationundermethod2alsoincreasestherangeandstandarddeviationoftheseriesnotably.However,thisincreasecanbeattributedtoaclearupwardbiasasthefrequencyofexceedingthefeasibleregionisamplified.
Thisimpliesthataveragehourlyself-employedlabourcompensationissignificantlylowerthanaverageemployeecompensationinsectorswhichhaverelativelylargeroutputshares.Thisiscorroboratedbythefollowingscatterplot:
Figure3:AverageISIC4sectorsizeandself-employedtoemployeerelativereturns
Sectorswithlargersharesofoutputingrossvalueaddedtendtohaveahigherrelativehourlyreturntolabourforemployees.Subsequently,imputationswhichdonotaccountforthiscross-sectorheterogeneitycanmistakenly‘overweight’thesectorswherehourlyreturnstotheself-employedarerelativelygreater.
8
Conclusion
ThispaperexplorestwocommonmeasuresofthelabourincomeshareandappliesthemtotheUK.Moreover,itprovidesnovelestimatesofthelabourincomeshareusingadisaggregatedapproach,utilisingLabourForceSurveyandISIC4sectorleveldata.Thefindingsaretwofold.
Firstly,thecarefultreatmentofself-employed(proprietor)incomesuggeststherehasbeenadeclineintheUKlabourincomeshare.However,thisoccurredinthelastquarterofthe20thcenturyandtherecoveryafterthemillenniumwasmodest.
Secondly,imputingself-employedlabourincomeviaaveragehourlyemployeecompensationfortheUKeconomyshouldbeavoidedunlesscompellingempiricalevidencestatesotherwise.Thegranularapproachemployedherehasuncoveredsystematicinconsistenciesinmethod2whensubjecttodisaggregation.
Thevalidityofmethod2hasthereforeshowntobeinaccuratefores
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