inequality

Statistical Inference for the Relative Distribution

Social scientists are increasingly interested in techniques for comparing changes in distributional shape in addition to mean levels. One such technique is based on the relative distribution, a nonparametric summary of the information required for …

Covariance Models for Latent Structure in Longitudinal Data

We present several approaches to modeling latent structure in longitudinal studies when the covariance itself is the primary focus of the analysis. This is a departure from much of the work on longitudinal data analysis, in which attention is focused …

Divergent Paths: Economic Mobility in the New American Labor Market

The promise of upward mobility—the notion that everyone has the chance to get ahead—is one of this country's most cherished ideals, a hallmark of the American Dream. But in today's volatile labor market, the tradition of upward mobility for all may …

Trends in Job Instability and Wages for Young Adult Men

This is a paper in 'On the Job: Is Long Term Employment a Thing of the Past?', edited by David Neumark. New York: Russell Sage.

Comparing earnings inequality using two major surveys

Some previous research suggests that discrepancies exist between the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth and the Current Population Survey in terms of earnings trends; when the sample is limited to full-time, year-round workers, however, the …

Relative Distribution Methods in the Social Sciences

In social science research, differences among groups or changes over time are a common focus of study. While means and variances are typically the basis for statistical methods used in this research, the underlying social theory often implies …

Trends in Job Instability and Wages for Young Adult Men

Data and measurement problems have complicated the debate over trends in job instability in the United States. We compare two cohorts of young white men from the National Longitudinal Surveys (NLS), construct a rigorous measure of job change, and …

The Declining Middle: Is Pennsylvania Losing its Middle Class?

Why Should We Care about Income Inequality? Increasing income inequality, particularly the increasing gap between those at the top and those at the bottom of the income distribution, tends to play out at both the national and local levels. Inequality …

Relative Distribution Methods

We present an outline of relative distribution methods, with an application to recent changes in the U.S. wage distribution. Relative distribution methods are a nonparametric statistical framework for analyzing data in a fully distributional …

Bridge Populations in the Spread of HIV/AIDS in Thailand

Objective: To determine the extent to which men provide a bridge population between commercial sex workers (CSW) and the general female population in Thailand. Design: Sexual network and serological data were collected from a systematic quota sample …