Labour market inequality between men and women: Allocational differences versus wage rate differences

Summary This article discusses the question to what extent there are differences between men and women concerning the allocation of workers to jobs on the one hand and the remuneration for a given allocation on the other. Human capital variables do not only affect the allocation of men and women to job levels and job categories differently, they also have different effects on wage rates for men and women in given job levels and job categories. The wage gap between men and women partly stems from the fact that men and women have different personal characteristics, and partly from the different allocation of men and women to job levels and job categories. Besides, wage rate inequality stems from the different rewards for men and women with given characteristics. By decomposing the average wage rate difference between men and women it can be established that 40 percent of this difference can be attributed to differences concerning education, experience, and age; 28 percent to differences in the allocation of men and women to job levels and job categories, and 32 percent to higher rewards for men than for women with given characteristics.Economic Institute/Centre for Interdisciplinary Research on Labour Market and Distribution Issues (CIAV) Rijksuniversiteit Utrecht; Economic Institute/Centre for Interdisciplinary Research on Labour Market and Distribution Issues (CIAV), ijksuniversiteit Utrecht, and Netherlands Interdisciplinary Demographic Institute (NIDI), Den Haag. The authors wish to thank the Dutch Wage Bureau for making available the data, and Frank Kalshoven, Ingrid Plas and Yolanda Grift for their computational assistance.     

Finding an Alternative to Bureaucratic Models of Organization in the Public Sector

Demands for enhanced levels of efficiency and effectiveness have caused many to question traditional bureaucratic forms in public sector organizations. Team-based structures have been cited as an attractive alternative, perceived as facilitating the necessary levels of flexibility, innovation and responsiveness. Through the case of one Next Steps agency, the authors explore the difficulties encountered by rigid bureaucracies in their attempts to introduce team-working. It is argued that cultural change must act as a pivot for movement towards structural change, embodying all of the perceived positive aspects of team-working within public sector organizations. This will, in turn, facilitate the achievement of desired performance outcomes.     

Allocation and the earnings function

This paper stresses the view that earnings differentials should be interpreted in the light of allocation in the labor market. A model is developed that acknowledges the difference between individual levels of characteristics and the levels of such characteristics required in the job. It is applied to data sets for the Netherlands, with education as the most important variable. Neither the individual's education nor the requirements of the job alone are sufficient to determine earnings: they should be considered jointly. The earnings function containing allocation thus proves superior to the function derived from either human capital theory or from segmented labor market theory.     

New developments in government consumer policy: A challenge for consumer organizations

In this paper, it is pleaded that consumer organizations ought to play a larger role in the development and execution of consumer policy at the national and international levels.The present environment in which government consumer policy operates is entirely different from that of one or two decades ago, and this necessitates the search for new avenues to pursue the consumer policy objective. Although government remains responsible for providing basic consumer protection, it should scrutinize its own organization in order to achieve a better integration of the consumer aspect in sectoral policies.Especially in the field of economic consumer protection, consumer organizations should start negotiations with business with a view to obtain, e.g., better contract terms and complaint handling mechanisms. If government maintains that the achievement of such goals is worthwhile from the consumer point of view and leads to a better functioning of markets, but wants to refrain from legal action, it should provide consumer organizations with the means to perform these negotiations. Consumer organizations are urged to accept this challenge.Further, the organization of EC policies and those of the Consumer Committee of the OECD are discussed. The roles of BEUC and IOCU within this framework are also dealt with.

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Neue Entwicklungen in der Verbraucherpolitik: Eine Herausforderung an die Verbraucherorganisationen

Zusammenfassung Das Umfeld staatlicher Verbraucherpolitik hat sich in den letzten beiden Jahrzehnten grundsätzlich geändert. Daraus ergibt sich die Notwendigkeit, bei der Verfolgung verbraucherpolitischer Ziele neue Wege zu finden. Den Verbraucherorganisationen sollte bei der Entwicklung und Durchführung politischer Maßnahmen auf nationalem und auf internationalem Niveau eine größere Rolle beigemessen werden.Sie sollten insbesondere im Bereich des Verbraucherschutzes in Verhand-lungen mit der Anbieterseite auf bessere Richtlinien für Kaufvertrags-Abschlüsse und für die Behandlung von Reklamationen drängen. Wenn der Staat einerseits diese Ziele sowohl unter verbraucherpolitischem sowie auch unter marktpolitischem Blickwinkel für wichtig hält, andererseits aber in diesem Bereich nicht gesetzgeberisch handeln will, sollte er die Verbraucherorganisationen materiell und personell in den Stand versetzen, diese Aufgaben wahrzunehmen. Die Verbraucherorganisationen sollten diese Herausforderung unbedingt annehmen.Auch internationale Gesichtspunkte der Verbraucherpolitik im Rahmen der EG und der OECD werden ebenso wie die Rolle von BEUC und IOCU im Rahmen dieser Vorschläge diskutiert.

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Joop Koopman is Director of Consumer Policy, Ministry of Economic Affairs, P.O. Box 20101, The Hague, The Netherlands.This contribution expresses personal views, which do not necessarily correspond exactly with official government thinking.