@TechReport{iza:izadps:dp16693, author={Briskar, Juraj and Porto, Edoardo di and Mora, José V. Rodriguez and Tealdi, Cristina}, title={The Role of Industries in Rising Inequality}, year={2023}, month={Dec}, institution={Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)}, address={Bonn}, type={IZA Discussion Paper}, number={16693}, url={https://www.iza.org/publications/dp16693}, abstract={We analyse thirty years of Italian private sector employment data (1985-2018) to study the dynamics of rising earnings inequality. The total variance surged by 10 log points, with 55% occurring between industries, particularly in a few low-paid service sectors. Workers with low earnings ability showed increased likelihood of working in industries with low average firm premium (sorting) together with other low-earning workers (segregation). Strikingly, parallels with the US emerge. In both, inequality increased predominantly between industries and concentrated within a small number of sectors. Italy's increase primarily stems from low-paying sectors, diverging from the more balanced growth observed in the US across high-paying and low-paying industries. Our findings suggest that despite institutional differences similar underlying forces are at work.}, keywords={earnings inequality;industries;sorting;segregation}, }