Why does the wage inequality gap often appear in developed economies? Select one – the most appropriate answer.

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The question asks why the wage inequality gap often appears in developed economies and requests choosing the most appropriate answer from the options.
Option 1: 'No correct answer.' This is a dismissive choice and generally is not supported, as there are established theories and evidence explaining wage gaps in developed economies.
Option 2: 'Economists mostly explain that by the fact that stems from Heckscher-Ohlin model – trade between economies with different level of endowment with high-skilled and low-skilled labor brings about the expansion of this gap.' The Heckscher-Ohlin (H-O) model emphasizes how countries trade based on factor endowments (capital, labor, skills) and can explain some cross-country patterns, but it does not, by itself, account for the persistent wage gaps within developed economies. While trade and endowments matter, H-O is insufficient to fully explain wage inequality within advanced economies, especially in the context of rising skill premiums due to technology.
Option 3: 'There can be different reasons which also depends on particular economy, but economists mostly explain that by trading with less developed countries (implying provisions of Heckscher-Ohlin model) and technological change.' This mixes several ideas and leans on trade with less developed countries as a primary driver, which is not a universally accepted sole explanation for wage inequality in developed economies. It also still relies on H-O in a way that may misstate the dominant mechanism, since technology and demand for skills have become central in many analyses.
Option 4: 'Wage inequality gap actually results from different technological level in different economies that brings about the skill-biased technological change.' This option points to the idea that disparities in technological progress across economies—and especially the rise of skill-biased technological change (SBTC)—increase the demand for high-skilled labor relative to low-skilled labor, raising wages at the top and widening the gap. This explanation is widely cited in the literature on wage inequality in developed economies and highlights endogenous productivity and technology-driven demand shifts as core drivers.
In evaluating the options, note that while trade models like Heckscher-Ohlin can illuminate some international patterns, the dominant contemporary explanations for rising wage inequality within developed economies increasingly emphasize technology, automation, and SBTC, rather than trade alone. The strongest and most widely discussed mechanism among the presented choices is the impact of differential technological advancement that privileges high-skilled workers, leading to greater wage dispersion.
Therefore, among the provided statements, the one focusing on technological differences and skill-biased technological change aligns most closely with mainstream analyses of wage inequality in developed economies. The other options either downplay the role of technology, misattribute the primary cause to trade in a way that oversimplifies the issue, or present an overly broad claim that there is no correct answer.

econ_420_120255_249094 Lesson 5 Quiz 2

Why does the wage inequality gap often appear in developed economies? Select one – the most appropriate answer.

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