Have Changes in Gender Segregation and Occupational Closure Contributed to Increasing Wage Inequality in Germany, 1992–2012?

2019 ◽  
Vol 36 (2) ◽  
pp. 236-249
Author(s):  
Nils Witte
Keyword(s):  
Wage Inequality ◽  
Wage Structure ◽  
Gender Segregation ◽  
West Germany ◽  
Wage Distribution ◽  
Occupational Characteristics ◽  
Occupational Closure ◽  
Wage Increases ◽  
Post Industrial

Abstract Wage inequality continued to increase through the 1990s and 2000s in post-industrial economies. This article contributes to the debate on occupations and inequality by assessing the role of occupational segregation and occupational closure for understanding the increase in inequality. Using employee data for West Germany in 1992 and 2012 and based on decompositions of unconditional quantile regressions the article investigates the contribution of changes in both occupational characteristics to changes in the wage structure. Our findings suggest that both the employment increase in more closed occupations and increased rewards in these occupations have contributed to wage increases across the distribution, especially in the lower half of the wage distribution. Our results further suggest disproportional wage increases in female-dominated occupations at the bottom of the distribution and disproportional wage decreases in male-dominated occupations at the top. If these occupational characteristics had remained at 1992 levels, then 90/10 wage inequality would have been 25 per cent higher in 2012. Thus, changes in occupational characteristics have contributed to wage compression in the observation period.

Glass Ceilings in Portugal?

2010 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-18 ◽  
Author(s):  
Raquel Mendes
Keyword(s):  
Wage Inequality ◽  
Glass Ceiling ◽  
Gender Wage Gap ◽  
Wage Gap ◽  
Gender Segregation ◽  
Ceiling Effect ◽  
Wage Distribution ◽  
Women's Wages ◽  
Gender Based ◽  
Women's Role

Despite the evidence of female progress with regard to women’s role in the labor market, gender inequality remains. Women are still less likely to be employed than men, occupational gender segregation continues, and females continue to earn less than males. The gender wage gap remains wide in several occupational sectors, among which is the information technology (IT) sector. This paper focuses the determinants of gender wage inequality. More precisely, it investigates for statistical evidence of a glass ceiling effect on women’s wages. Based on the quantile regression framework, the empirical analysis extends the decomposition of the average gender wage gap to other parts of the earnings distribution. The main objective is to empirically test whether gender-based wage discrimination is greater among high paid employees, in line with glass ceiling hypothesis. Larger unexplained gaps at the top of the wage distribution indicate the existence of a glass ceiling effect in Portugal.

scholarly journals Expanding higher education and wage inequality in Chile

2020 ◽  
Vol 47 (4) ◽  
pp. 877-889
Author(s):  
Yoshimichi Murakami ◽  
Tomokazu Nomura
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Wage Inequality ◽  
Household Survey ◽  
Wage Structure ◽  
Wage Distribution ◽  
Structure Effect ◽  
Composition Effect ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Subsequent Decrease ◽  
Using Data

PurposeThis study aims to analyse the contribution of the expansion and diversification of higher education to Chile's increase in wage inequality from 1992 to 2000 and its subsequent decrease from 2000 to 2013.Design/methodology/approachThe wage equation for each year is estimated using data from the national household survey, Encuesta de Caracterización Socioeconómica Nacional (CASEN). Using the method proposed by Firpo et al. (2009), the evolution of wage changes is decomposed into composition and wage structure effects of each explanatory variable at different points of the wage distribution.FindingsThe results show that the positive composition effect of higher education, derived from the increasing share of both workers with university degrees and those with vocational degrees, is substantially larger at the upper quantiles and exceeds the negative wage structure effect, thereby contributing to increasing wage inequality from 1992 to 2000. By contrast, the negative wage structure effect of higher education, primarily derived from the decreasing return to university degrees, is substantially larger at the upper quantiles and exceeds the positive composition effect, thereby contributing to decreasing wage inequality from 2000 to 2013.Originality/valueThis study contributes to the literature by showing that the expansion of higher education increased inequality in the 1990s and decreased it in the 2000s while the increasing supply of workers with vocational degrees decreased wage premiums for university degrees in the latter period.

Changes in the Turkish Wage Structure in the EU Accession Process

2016 ◽  
pp. 187-208
Author(s):  
Nursel Aydiner-Avsar ◽  
M. Burak Onemli
Keyword(s):  
Wage Inequality ◽  
College Education ◽  
Wage Structure ◽  
Wage Distribution ◽  
Eu Accession ◽  
Job Status ◽  
Related Factors ◽  
Accession Process ◽  
Major Factors ◽  
The Eu

This chapter aims to analyze the evolution of Turkish wage structure following the introduction of new labor law in 2003 in the EU accession process. The authors first present a descriptive picture of the changes in wage inequality between 2003 and 2013. They then conduct an econometric analysis of the relative importance of individual, job- and workplace-related factors on wages across the wage distribution to understand what drives this outcome. It is found that wage inequality decreased from 2003 to 2007, and increased during the global economic crisis. Increased returns to college education, skilled white collar jobs as well as returns to construction sector stand out as the major factors increasing wage inequality. Though to a lesser extent, increased returns to blue-collar jobs, formal job status and reduced returns to employment in large firms are factors reducing wage inequality in Turkey in the post-2003 era.

scholarly journals The Contribution of the Minimum Wage to US Wage Inequality over Three Decades: A Reassessment

2016 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 58-99 ◽  
Author(s):  
David H. Autor ◽  
Alan Manning ◽  
Christopher L. Smith
Keyword(s):  
Minimum Wage ◽  
Wage Inequality ◽  
Wage Structure ◽  
Earnings Inequality ◽  
Minimum Wages ◽  
Wage Distribution ◽  
Prior Work ◽  
Lower Tail ◽  
Structure Changes ◽  
Wage Effects

We reassess the effect of minimum wages on US earnings inequality using additional decades of data and an IV strategy that addresses potential biases in prior work. We find that the minimum wage reduces inequality in the lower tail of the wage distribution, though by substantially less than previous estimates, suggesting that rising lower tail inequality after 1980 primarily reflects underlying wage structure changes rather than an unmasking of latent inequality. These wage effects extend to percentiles where the minimum is nominally nonbinding, implying spillovers. We are unable to reject that these spillovers are due to reporting artifacts, however. (JEL J22, J31, J38, K31)

scholarly journals Rising Wage Inequality in Germany

2007 ◽  
Vol 227 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Johannes Gernandt ◽  
Friedhelm Pfeiffer
Keyword(s):  
Wage Inequality ◽  
East Germany ◽  
West Germany ◽  
Wage Distribution ◽  
Age Dependent ◽  
Male Workers

SummaryThe paper investigates the evolution of wages and wage inequality in Germany based on samples from the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) 1984 to 2005. Real gross hourly wages for prime age dependent male workers increased on average by 23 percent between 1984 and 1994 in West Germany and the wage distribution was fairly stable. Between 1994 and 2005 average wages increased by 7 percent in West Germany and 18 percent in East Germany. In this period wage inequality, measured by the ratio of the ninetieth to tenth percentile of the wage distribution, increased from 2.5 to 3.1 in West Germany and from 2.4 to 3.2 in East Germany. In West Germany rising wage inequality occurred mainly in the lower part of the wage distribution, whereas in East Germany wage inequality predominantly increased in the upper part of the wage distribution. In West Germany the group of workers with low tenure experienced higher increases in wage inequality compared to the group of workers with high tenure.

scholarly journals The Assignment of Workers to Tasks, Wage Distribution, and Technical Change: A Critical Review

2008 ◽  
pp. 12
Author(s):  
Arnaud Dupuy
Keyword(s):  
Production Function ◽  
Wage Inequality ◽  
Technical Change ◽  
Critical Review ◽  
Wage Structure ◽  
Wage Distribution ◽  
Wage Distributions ◽  
General Equilibrium Effect ◽  
Assignment Models ◽  
Equilibrium Effect

This article reviews the literature on two-sided atomless assignment models of workers to tasks. Using simple parametric examples, the fundamental differences between the comparative-advantage and the scale-of-operations models are illustrated. Holding the distributions of abilities and tasks and the production function of worker-task pairs constant, the two principles are shown to produce different wage distributions and wage inequality. These models are useful to evaluate the general equilibrium effect of technical change on the wage structure. In all models, Skill Biased Technical Change that impacts the production function of worker-task pairs leads to rising wage inequality.

scholarly journals Comparative Political Economy of Wage Distribution: The Role of Partisanship and Labour Market Institutions

2002 ◽  
Vol 32 (2) ◽  
pp. 281-308 ◽  
Author(s):  
JONAS PONTUSSON ◽  
DAVID RUEDA ◽  
CHRISTOPHER R. WAY
Keyword(s):  
Cross Section ◽  
Wage Inequality ◽  
Wage Bargaining ◽  
Wage Distribution ◽  
Comparative Political Economy ◽  
Institutional Variables ◽  
Unskilled Workers ◽  
Holding Back ◽  
Decentralized Bargaining

Through a pooled cross-section time-series analysis of the determinants of wage inequality in sixteen OECD countries from 1973 to 1995, we explore how political-institutional variables affect the upper and lower halves of the wage distribution. Our regression results indicate that unionization, centralization of wage bargaining and public-sector employment primarily affect the distribution of wages by boosting the relative position of unskilled workers, while the egalitarian effects of Left government operate at the upper end of the wage hierarchy, holding back the wage growth of well-paid workers. Further analysis shows that the differential effects of government partisanship are contingent on wage-bargaining centralization: in decentralized bargaining systems, Left government is associated with compression of both halves of the wage distribution.

Discrimination against refugees in the Palestinian labor market

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Rabeh Morrar ◽  
Fernando Rios-Avila
Keyword(s):  
Labor Market ◽  
Wage Inequality ◽  
Wage Gap ◽  
Wage Structure ◽  
Policy Implications ◽  
Wage Distribution ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Individual Worker ◽  
Palestinian Society ◽  
Worker Characteristics

PurposeThis paper examines the level and structure of the wage inequality between nonrefugee and refugee workers in Palestine and the extent to which such wage gap reflects any marginalization and discrimination against refugees. It also investigates how the disparities in distribution to individual worker characteristics contribute to the wage inequality in Palestine.Design/methodology/approachThe authors use both Oaxaca and Blinder (OB) (Oaxaca, 1973 and Blinder, 1973) and Fortin et al. (2011) unconditional quantile decomposition approaches to measure the size of the wage gap along with the wage distribution and to decompose the wage differences into productivity (i.e. explained or the composition effects) and wage structure effects (i.e. unexplained or discrimination effects).FindingsResults indicate that most of the wage gap between refugees and nonrefugees is attributed to the wage structure effect (possibly explained by discrimination) against refugees in the Palestinian labor market. The wage gap between refugees and nonrefugees is not uniform throughout the wage distribution and supports the “sticky floor effect.”Practical implicationsThis work introduces important policy implications for the policymakers in the Palestinian labor market. It reveals the economic and social factors, individual worker characteristics as well as labor market characteristics contribute to the wage inequality in Palestine.Social implicationsThis research reveals a crucial social challenge in the Palestinian society, represented by the wage discrimination against refugees in Palestine. This is despite the denial of such discrimination from official bodies, local institutions and many other policymakers. It also captures gender inequality between men and women.Originality/valueThis is the first empirical work in Palestine that contends with a very sensitive issue in the Palestinian society, that is, the discrimination against refugees in the Palestinian labor market. Most of the existing studies have approached this issue from a humanitarian view in order to show the deterioration of social and economic situations in the refugee camps.

The Role of Segregation and Pay Structure on the Gender Wage Gap: Evidence from Matched Employer-Employee Data for Spain

2006 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Catalina Amuedo-Dorantes ◽  
Sara De la Rica
Keyword(s):  
Gender Wage Gap ◽  
Wage Gap ◽  
Wage Structure ◽  
Gender Segregation ◽  
Full Time ◽  
Salaried Workers ◽  
Gender Wage Differentials ◽  
New Evidence ◽  
Employee Data

AbstractThis paper presents new evidence on the role of gender segregation and pay structure in explaining gender wage differentials of full-time salaried workers in Spain. Data from the 1995 and 2002 Wage Structure Surveys reveal that raw gender wage gaps decreased from 0.24 to 0.14 over the seven-year period. Average differences in the base wage and wage complements decreased from 0.09 to 0.05 and from 0.59 to 0.40, respectively. However, the gender wage gap is still large after accounting for workers’ human capital, job and pay structure characteristics, and female segregation into low-paying industries, occupations, establishments, and occupations within establishments.

Twenty Years of Wage Inequality in Latin America

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julian Messina ◽  
Joana Silva
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Wage Inequality ◽  
High School Graduates ◽  
Wage Structure ◽  
Rapid Expansion ◽  
Wage Distribution ◽  
Evidence Based ◽  
Sharp Reduction ◽  
Market Experience ◽  
Skill Groups

Abstract This article documents an inverse U-shape in the evolution of wage inequality in Latin America since 1995, with a sharp reduction starting in 2002. The Gini coefficient of wages increased from 42 to 44 between 1995 and 2002 and declined to 39 by 2015. Between 2002 and 2015, the 90/10 log hourly earnings ratio decreased by 26 percent. The decline since 2002 was characterized by rising wages across the board, but especially at the bottom of the wage distribution in each country. Triggered by a rapid expansion of educational attainment, the wages of college and high school graduates fell relative to the wages of workers with only primary education. The premium for labor market experience also fell significantly. However, the compression of wages was not entirely driven by changes in the wage structure across skill groups. Two-thirds of the decline in the variance of wages took place within skill groups. Changes in the sectoral, occupational, and formal/informal composition of jobs matter for the process of reduction in inequality, but they do not fully account for the fall in within-skill variance. Evidence based on longitudinal matched employer-employee administrative data suggests that an important driver was falling wage dispersion across firms.

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