Wage differentials by sector and gender: a quantile analysis for the Spanish case

This paper analyses existing wage differentials between workers in the public and private sectors and by gender in Spain. This analysis is run throughout the entire earnings distribution and observed wage differentials are decomposed into a part explained by differences in productive characteristics and a part due to differences in returns to such characteristics. Our results show that public sector workers tend to earn higher wages than private employees, although most of this sector wage gap is due to better public workers’ productive characteristics. A wage premium in favour of men is also found in both the public and private sectors, with the gender wage gap greater at the top of the earnings distribution.     

Is There a Glass Ceiling over Germany?

This paper analyzes the gender wage gap across the wage distribution using 2010 data from the German Statistical Agency. I investigate East and West Germany and the public sector separately to account for potential heterogeneities in wage gaps. I apply unconditional and conditional quantile regression methods to investigate the differences between highly paid men and women in distributions conditional and unconditional on covariates. The results indicate increasing gender wage gaps in all estimations, suggesting that there is indeed a glass ceiling over Germany even after controlling for a large set of observable characteristics (including occupation and industry). This finding is even more pronounced when also taking bonus payments into account.     

The gender pay gap： Review and update

This paper explores the research behind the wage gap between men and women, the reasons for and extent of the gap, and strategies for dealing with gender pay discrepancies. Historically, gender discrimination was the traditional and easy explanation for pay discrepancies, but more aggressive enforcement of equal pay legislations has virtually diminished the validity of rationalizing the existence of pay differences solely on gender. Statistical data surrounding the pay gap point to other factors as more causal instruments that sustain and perpetuate the gap in spite of more than forty years of enforcement of equal pay legislations. The choices we make seem to predict and explain current wage gaps better than blatant gender discrimination does, and policies directed at improving those choices appear to be better strategic tools in closing the wage gap.     

What drives the reversal of the gender education gap? Evidence from Germany

We study the mechanisms that are associated with the gender education gap and its reversal in Germany. We focus on three outcomes, graduation from upper secondary school, any tertiary education and tertiary degree. Neither individual and family background nor labour market characteristics appear to be strongly associated with the gender education gap. There is some evidence that the gender gap in upper secondary education reflects the rising share of single parent households which impacts boys’ attainment more than girls’. The gender education gap in tertiary education is correlated with the development of class sizes and social norms.     

Gender-Based Occupational Choices and Family Responsibilities: The Gender Wage Gap in Italy

This paper explores the relationship between the gender division of labor, occupational choices, and the gender wage gap in Italy. In Italy, cultural factors and low availability of formal childcare services define gender roles that are generally based on the male breadwinner model, in which childcare is almost completely entrusted to women. The analysis is carried out through an extension of the Oaxaca–Blinder decomposition and is based on data from the 2007 Italian National Institute for Workers’ Professional Development (ISFOL). The results are consistent with gender discrimination on wages and suggest that women’s occupational paths are often an outcome of limited choices, and that women’s unpaid domestic work negatively interferes with the energy women can put into paid work. These findings support the need to ensure gender equality in and out of the labor market, especially through deep changes in Italian social norms and through the development of formal childcare.     

Why do women still earn less than men? Decomposing the Dutch gender pay gap, 1996–2006

Despite major improvements in women's labour market attachment, women still earn considerably less than men. International research shows that the persistence of the gender pay gap may be due to the fact that although the gap in characteristics between men and women is diminishing, changes in the wage structure counteract this change. This article will study whether this ‘swimming upstream’ phenomenon is also playing a role in the rather slow convergence between male and female wages in the Netherlands. Our results indicate that this is not the case; most of the changes in the Dutch wage structure have been rather favourable to women. The lacking convergence in wages has to be explained from the fact that despite the favourable changes, the Dutch wage structure still contains a considerable implicit gender bias.     

职业分割、性别歧视与工资差距

文章通过\"晒工费\"网络平台提供的调查数据,利用Appleton分解方法对我国城镇职工的性别工资差距进行了分解.结果表明,受教育程度、工作年限等人力资本水平对男女工贵差异有显著的影响,而且我国劳动力市场上存在一定的职业性别分割.分解数据显示,职业内工资差异与职业闻工资差异分别为22.5%和15.7%,即存在比较严重的纵向和横向性别职业隔离.此外,分析结果还揭示了职业性别歧视是导致城市男女工资差异的主要原因.     

Book Reviews

Béla Greskovits, The Political Economy of Protest and Patience. East European and Latin American Transformations Compared
Roman Frydman, Kenneth Murphy and Andrzej Rapaczynski, Capitalism with a Comrade's Face
Lorand Ambrus-Lakatos and Mark Schaffer (eds), Fiscal Policy in Transition. Forum Report of the Economic Policy initiative No. 3
Michael Ellman and Vladimir Kontorovich (eds), The Destruction of the Soviet Economic System. An Insider' History
Louis Emmerij (ed.), Economic and Social Development into the XXI Century     

Same Work,Different Pay? Evidence from a US Public University

Abstract

This study examines detailed data for faculty at a typical public research university in the United States between 1995 and 2004 to explore whether gender wage differentials can be explained by productivity differences. The level of detail – including the number of courses taught, enrollment, grant dollars, and number and impact of publications – largely eliminates the problem of unmeasured productivity, and the restriction to one firm eliminates unmeasured work conditions that confound investigations of wider labor markets. The authors find that direct productivity measures reduce the gender wage penalty to about 3 percent, only 1 percentage point lower than estimates from national studies of many institutions and with fewer productivity controls. The wage structure for women faculty differs markedly from the wage structure for men. Interpreted against the institutional features of wage setting for this population, the paper concludes that penalties for women arise at the department level.     

The gender pay gap in Russia during the transition, 1992-96

This paper explores the link between rising wage dispersion in Russia over the transitional period and the gender pay gap. The work of Blau and Kahn (1996) emphasized a role for 'wage structure' in the determination of the gender pay gap, although some interpretational issues concerning their methodology have been raised recently by Suen (1997). The unadjusted gender pay gap between 1992 and 1996 exhibited some degree of stability, but the analysis presented identified increased wage dispersion as a modest agent for the widening of the gap in Russia. Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) estimates for an equation pooling observations from both gender groups, registered no statistical difference in the mean ceteris paribus gender pay gap between the two years. To complement the mean regression approach, quantile regression procedures were also employed. Although the median regression provided evidence of a statistically significant temporal increase in the gender pay gap, this finding was not supported at other chosen quantiles of the wage distribution. This result was taken to highlight the possible sensitivity of the OLS procedure.
JEL classification: J16, J31, P23.     

The unequal distribution of unequal pay – An empirical analysis of the gender wage gap in Switzerland

In this paper we analyze the distribution of the gender wage gap. Using microdata for Switzerland we estimate conditional wage distribution functions and find that the total wage gap and its discrimination component are not constant over the range of wages. At low wages an overproportional part of the wage gap is due to discrimination. In a further analysis of specific individuals we examine the wage gap at different quantiles and propose a new measure to assess equal earnings opportunities. These additional results reveal that it is primarily low education that causes the large discrimination component at low wages. First version received: April 1999/Final version accepted: July 2000     

Book Reviews

Books reviewed:
Erik Berglöf and Romesh Vaitilingam, Stuck in Transit: Rethinking Russian Economic Reform
Mitko Dimitrov, Wladimir Andreff and László Csaba, Economies in transition and the variety of capitalisms: features, changes, convergence
Vincent Edwards, Gennady Polonsky & Avgust Polonsky, The Russian Province after Communism. Enterprise Continuity and Change
Christian von Hirschhausen and Jürgen Bitzer, The Globalization of Industry and Innovation in Eastern Europe
Mario I. Blejer & Marko Skreb, Financial Sector Transformation. Lessons from Economies in Transition     

Gender Discrimination in Central Europe during the Systemic Transition

In this paper we measure the extent of gender discrimination on Central European labour markets (Czech, Hungarian, Polish and Slovak) during the first years of transition. Using Oaxaca's method and Social Stratification Survey data for 1993, we estimate that discrimination explains about half of the wage gap. Gender discrimination is significantly weaker in Hungary and stronger in Slovakia and Poland, where a large part of discrimination is tied to segregation. More fundamentally, we try to determine the nature of this discrimination; we conclude that discrimination is mainly statistical (both group and individual), but also deliberate, and the labour market is partly inefficient.     

Is Australia Really a World Leader in Closing the Gender Gap?

Abstract

In the World Economic Forum (WEF) 2006 Global Gender Gap report, Australia was highlighted as a world leader in closing the gender gap. With reference to the Economic Participation and Opportunity Index (one of four components in the WEF Gender Gap Index (GGI)), this article assesses whether or not Australia is deserving of this recognition. Closer analysis shows that convergence in the participation gap flowed from increased participation in part-time, low-paid, and precarious jobs. Research also shows that women's entry into professional jobs has led to the feminization of some positions and that vertical segregation remains an ongoing problem. In highlighting these disparities, this article questions the capacity of the GGI to provide an adequate understanding of women's labor market participation and economic attainment.