Gru Han (Harvard Sociology)

Corporate Stratification and Income Inequality in the United States, 1950-2018

American corporate world is often depicted with dynamic and creative disruptions of established orders. There are constant falls of old incumbents and rises of new companies, long represented by the term “creative destruction” by Schumpeter. However, if one looks at the data during the second half of the 20th century and especially the last two decades, the picture is not too vibrant and dynamic. This research shows that the opposite picture seems to be more accurate: now we have the corporate stratification that resembles social class. Out of many implications of corporate stratification, I delve into its connection to wage inequality at the industry level.