Poor university professors? The relative earnings decline of German professors during the twentieth century. Issue 2 (3rd May 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Sohn, Alexander
• Is Part Of: Scandinavian economic history review. Volume 64:Issue 2(2016)
• Page Start: 84
• Page End: 102
• Publication Date: 2016-05-03
• Subjects: Professorial earnings -- public sector -- income distribution; J24 -- J31 -- J42 -- J45 -- N34; Scandinavia -- Economic conditions -- Periodicals; Scandinavia -- Social conditions -- Periodicals; 330.948005
• DOI: 10.1080/03585522.2016.1175374
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0358-5522

Abstract

ABSTRACT: Using individual earnings data from university archives, we analyse the position of university professors within the aggregate income distribution over a time span covering the Kaiserreich, the Weimar Republic, the Third Reich as well as the Federal Republic of Germany. We find that not only did the earnings of professors deteriorate with respect to average incomes, due to the compression of the income distribution, but that professorial earnings no longer sufficed to lift professors into the top 1% of the aggregate income distribution.