Comparing public- and private-sector earnings distributions over time

This paper examines the importance of differences in wage distributions in comparing public- and private-sector wages. Furthermore, the paper evaluates the reform of the way public-sector workers are paid in the United Kingdom and whether the policy of more comparable wages was effective in the early 1990s. Findings show that differences in the distributions of public- and Private-sector wages are important and that the reforms have only partially been successful in making wages more comparable.