Positional Power, Class, and Individual Earnings Inequality: Advancing New Structuralist Explanations

This article seeks to advance "new structuralist" theory by considering the effects of positional power and class on individual earnings. We contend that positional power, that is the power wielded by workers employed in industries in an interdependent economy, confers upon workers the pot...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Sociological quarterly 1993-04, Vol.34 (1), p.85-109
Main Authors: Wallace, Michael, Leicht, Kevin T., Grant, Don Sherman
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Class
Commercial production
Earnings
Economic sociology
Economics
Employment
Equal Opportunity
Income
Income distribution
Income inequality
Individuals
Industrial production
Industrial products
Industry
Labor
Labor markets
Legitimate power
Organizational structure
Power
Proletariat
Social Class
Social Classes
Social control
Social Inequality
Social Power
Social research
Sociology
Sociology of economy and development
Standard of living. Income
Theory
Unemployment
Wages
Work, Community, and the Economy
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Summary:This article seeks to advance "new structuralist" theory by considering the effects of positional power and class on individual earnings. We contend that positional power, that is the power wielded by workers employed in industries in an interdependent economy, confers upon workers the potential to disrupt system-wide production and creates leverage to demand higher earnings from employers. We demonstrate that positional power, in particular the per worker volume of goods and services received from other industries (or upstream production), increases workers' earnings net of sociodemographic variables and other plausible structural sources of earnings determination. We suggest that the threat of disrupting upstream production holds greater earnings potential than disrupting downstream production because of the profit realization problems associated with the former. We also show that the positive effects of positional power are not evenly distributed across the class structure, but rather are concentrated among non-owning classes who display a social control function in the labor process. We discuss the implications of our research for future new structuralist research.
ISSN:0038-0253
1533-8525
DOI:10.1111/j.1533-8525.1993.tb00132.x