scholarly journals Commuting and the Motherhood Wage Gap: Evidence from Germany

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (14) ◽  
pp. 5692
Author(s):  
Thomas Skora ◽  
Heiko Rüger ◽  
Nico Stawarz
Keyword(s):  
Human Capital ◽  
Job Search ◽  
Fixed Effects ◽  
Transition To Parenthood ◽  
Wage Gap ◽  
Wage Penalty ◽  
Pay Gap ◽  
Capital Theory ◽  
Commuting Distances ◽  
Commuting Distance

In the present study, we analyze how childbirth-related changes in commuting contribute to the motherhood wage gap, which in turn accounts for a large part of the gender pay gap. Derived from human capital theory and job search theory, we examine various mechanisms that might explain why reduced commuting distances after childbirth come along with wage reductions for mothers. The empirical analyses are based on data from the German Socio-Economic Panel (GSOEP) 2001–2017, which are analyzed within a fixed effects (FE) panel framework (n = 41,111 observations from 7183 persons). Firstly, the results show that the transition to first parenthood is associated with a 33% decrease in the commuting distance of women, while the transition to fatherhood has no effect. Secondly, mothers who substantially reduce their commuting distance after the transition to parenthood (who amount to 30% of all mothers in our sample) show an increased wage penalty (−18.4%), compared to mothers who do not reduce their commuting distance (−8.7%). Accordingly, 23% of the motherhood wage penalty can be attributed to wage losses related to the reduction in commuting distance. Thirdly, wage penalties for mothers who change to a job closer to their place of residence can be partly explained by the loss of firm-specific human capital. In addition, the wage penalty for commuting is a consequence of women taking jobs that are less suited to their skills profile and moving to smaller companies.

scholarly journals Trade Liberalization and the Lead Role of Human Capital and Job Attributes in Wage Determination: The Case of Pakistan’s Labor Market

2009 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-37 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bushra Yasmin
Keyword(s):  
Human Capital ◽  
Trade Liberalization ◽  
Wage Gap ◽  
Individual Characteristics ◽  
Wage Distribution ◽  
Wage Determination ◽  
Pay Gap ◽  
Job Attributes ◽  
The Difference

This study analyzes the role of human capital and job attributes, i.e., supply-side determinants, in determining wages in a period of trade liberalization. Using the Mincerian earning function and based on data from the Labor Force Surveys, we construct a model to estimate various wage determinants and compute the rates of return to different educational qualifications and relative occupational wage shares for the years 2005/06 and 1990/91. The estimated earning functions for 1990/91 and 2005/06 are compared to investigate whether individual characteristics—such as gender, job location, nature of job, educational qualifications, and different occupations—cause the wage gap to widen or contract under conditions of trade liberalization. The mean and quantile regression approach is used for estimation purposes. Our key findings postulate (i) an increasing gender pay gap, (ii) a higher wage premium to the highest educational qualification, and (iii) more or less stable relative wages for different occupations over time. In addition, wage dispersion across occupational groups appears more pronounced in 1990/91 than in 2005/06, implying a declining trend in the difference in wage distribution across occupations.

scholarly journals Job Mobility as a New Explanation for the Immigrant-Native Wage Gap: A Longitudinal Analysis of the German Labor Market1

2018 ◽  
Vol 52 (3) ◽  
pp. 724-749
Author(s):  
Hanna Brenzel ◽  
Malte Reichelt
Keyword(s):  
Fixed Effects ◽  
Wage Gap ◽  
Job Mobility ◽  
Human Capital Theory ◽  
Substantial Part ◽  
Industrialized Countries ◽  
Wage Differences ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Capital Theory ◽  
Employment Trajectories

In industrialized countries, wages between migrants and natives usually differ. Previous studies that mostly focused on human capital theory and cross-sectional wage differences failed to fully explain the wage gap. We offer a new explanation and assume that differences in the employment trajectories of migrants and natives contribute to diverging wages after labor market entrance. Utilizing longitudinal data for Germany, we analyze the job mobility of migrants and natives and distinguish among voluntary, involuntary, and internal job changes. Indeed, we find evidence for differences in transition patterns and — using several fixed-effects regressions — are able to explain a substantial part of the gap in hourly wages. The results suggest that the higher number of involuntary changes among migrants increases the wage gap. In contrast, support for more voluntary and internal job changes among migrants should help to counteract diverging earnings trajectories.

Part-time employment, the gender wage gap and the role of wage-setting institutions: Evidence from 11 European countries

2017 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
pp. 221-241 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eleonora Matteazzi ◽  
Ariane Pailhé ◽  
Anne Solaz
Keyword(s):  
Gender Gap ◽  
Gender Wage Gap ◽  
Wage Gap ◽  
European Countries ◽  
Full Time ◽  
Wage Setting ◽  
Wage Penalty ◽  
Pay Gap ◽  
Representation Of Women ◽  
Part Time

We examine how far the over-representation of women in part-time jobs can explain the gender gap in hourly earnings, and also investigate how far wage-setting institutions are correlated with the overall gender wage gap and the female part-time wage gap. Using European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC) 2009 data for 11 European countries, we implement a double decomposition of the gender wage gap: between men and women employed full-time and between full-time and part-time working women. This shows that the wage penalty of women employed part-time occurs mainly through the segregation of part-time jobs, but the full-time gender pay gap remains mostly unexplained. At the macro level, the gender wage gap tends to be higher in countries where part-time employment is more widespread. Some wage-setting institutions seem to reduce the female full-time/part-time pay gap and the gender gap among full-time workers.

scholarly journals The Gender Wage Gap in Developed Countries

2017 ◽  
pp. 368-394 ◽  
Author(s):  
Astrid Kunze
Keyword(s):  
Gender Differences ◽  
Human Capital ◽  
Gender Wage Gap ◽  
Wage Gap ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
Gender Pay Gap ◽  
Demand Side ◽  
Pay Gap ◽  
On Demand ◽  
Employment Rates

Despite the increased attachment of women to the labor force in nearly all developed countries, a stubborn gender pay gap remains. This chapter provides a review of the economics literature on the gender wage gap, with an emphasis on developed countries. We begin with an overview of the trends in the gender differences in wages and employment rates. We then review methods used to decompose the gender wage gap and the results from such decompositions. We discuss how trends and differences in the gender wage gap across countries can be understood in light of nonrandom selection and human capital differences. We then review the evidence on demand-side factors used to explain the existing gender wage gap and then discuss occupational segregation. The chapter concludes with suggestions for further research.

Gender-specific human capital: identification and quantifying its wage effects

2017 ◽  
Vol 38 (6) ◽  
pp. 854-874 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maryna Tverdostup ◽  
Tiiu Paas
Keyword(s):  
Human Capital ◽  
Wage Gap ◽  
Pay Gap ◽  
Men And Women ◽  
Male And Female ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Wage Returns ◽  
Specific Human Capital ◽  
Gender Specific ◽  
Opposite Gender

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to better understand the possible reasons behind gender pay disparities, focussing on the unique features of male and female human capital and their wage returns. Despite increasing convergence of male and female human capital attainments, substantial differences remain. Extraction of human capital components non-overlapping across genders provides more profound explanation of the unexplained wage gap of men and women. Design/methodology/approach Starting with the non-parametric matching-based decomposition technique, the authors extend the pay gap estimation framework and focus on males and females having no counterpart in a set of characteristics within the opposite gender. The authors identify gender-unique human capital in terms of differences in distribution of individual characteristics across men and women and gender-specific combination of human capital characteristics. Wage returns to gender-specific profiles are evaluated applying wage regression on both full distribution of earnings and wage quantiles. The research relies on the Survey of Adult Skills (PIAAC) database for Estonia, which incorporates both formal education and cognitive skill records. Findings The study identifies sets of characteristics and competencies exclusive for both genders, proving that male and female profiles cannot be directly compared. The results suggest that men possess high individual and combined abilities in numeracy and problem solving in technology-rich environment, not always reached by females. This potentiates men’s higher earnings in spite of their generally lower formal educational attainments. Wage gap analysis over the full distribution of earnings shows even larger “glass ceiling” effect for females, possessing woman-specific human capital. Originality/value The authors raise a research from a novel perspective towards a role of human capital in gender wage inequality. Instead of usual reference to observable gaps in male and female characteristics, the authors identify the gender-specific human capital profiles, to a large extent non-reached by the opposite gender. Analysed associations between gender-specific characteristics and earnings provide an insight to possible effects of gender-unique human capital on a male-female wage disparity.

Immigrant–native wage gap in Europe: the role of cognitive skills and their use at work

2019 ◽  
Vol 40 (1) ◽  
pp. 154-175 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maryna Tverdostup ◽  
Tiiu Paas
Keyword(s):  
Human Capital ◽  
Cognitive Skills ◽  
Wage Rate ◽  
Gap Analysis ◽  
Wage Gap ◽  
Multivariate Regression Analysis ◽  
Wage Penalty ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Final Population

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to address the role of cognitive skills and extent of skill use at work in explaining the immigrant–native wage gap in Europe. The study targets immigrant–native disparities in literacy and numeracy cognitive skills, as important, yet not exhaustive factor behind immigrants’ wage penalty. Design/methodology/approach The research relies on the Program of International Assessment of Adult Competencies data for 15 European countries. The empirical analysis employs multivariate regression analysis and incorporates the full set of plausible values for each skill domain, to correctly measure cognitive skills. To estimate standard errors, the authors employ Jackknife replication methodology with 80 replication weights and final population weight. Findings The authors document that, on average, immigrants achieve substantially worse scores in literacy and numeracy test domains. Only highly educated immigrants tend to improve their skills over time in host countries. The results of wage gap analysis indicate that having cognitive skills, demographic profile and occupation category comparable to natives does not yield comparable wage rate. The remaining wage gap results from the systematic differences in skills application at work, as immigrants use their skills to lower extent, relative to natives. Originality/value The research employs a novel measure of productive human capital, which accounts for cognitive skills in literacy and numeracy domains, and frequencies of skill use at work. It allows to more precisely evaluate the immigrant–native disparity in human capital application and its reflection on the wage rate.

scholarly journals Modelling the relation between income and commuting distance

2016 ◽  
Vol 13 (119) ◽  
pp. 20160306 ◽  
Author(s):  
Giulia Carra ◽  
Ismir Mulalic ◽  
Mogens Fosgerau ◽  
Marc Barthelemy
Keyword(s):  
Power Law ◽  
Job Search ◽  
Alternative Model ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Quality Aspect ◽  
Using Data ◽  
Commuting Distances ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Commuting Distance

We discuss the distribution of commuting distances and its relation to income. Using data from Denmark, the UK and the USA, we show that the commuting distance is (i) broadly distributed with a slow decaying tail that can be fitted by a power law with exponent γ ≈ 3 and (ii) an average growing slowly as a power law with an exponent less than one that depends on the country considered. The classical theory for job search is based on the idea that workers evaluate the wage of potential jobs as they arrive sequentially through time, and extending this model with space, we obtain predictions that are strongly contradicted by our empirical findings. We propose an alternative model that is based on the idea that workers evaluate potential jobs based on a quality aspect and that workers search for jobs sequentially across space. We also assume that the density of potential jobs depends on the skills of the worker and decreases with the wage. The predicted distribution of commuting distances decays as 1/ r 3 and is independent of the distribution of the quality of jobs. We find our alternative model to be in agreement with our data. This type of approach opens new perspectives for the modelling of mobility.

scholarly journals Determinants of the wage gap in Ecuador: analysis under a minceriano model related to dummy aggregate variables

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (29) ◽  
pp. 70
Author(s):  
Jorge Luis López Lapo ◽  
Germania Sarmiento Castillo
Keyword(s):  
Human Capital ◽  
Labor Market ◽  
Old Age ◽  
Gender Discrimination ◽  
Wage Gap ◽  
Human Capital Theory ◽  
Labor Income ◽  
Capital Theory ◽  
Secondary Information

Introduction The Human Capital Theory exposes that inequality in labor income is due to different factors, including productivity and education. Objectiveanalyze income inequality in the Ecuadorian labor market. The research takes data from the National Employment, Unemployment and Underemployment Survey of INEC estimating the Mincerian equation (1974) by adding dummy variables.Materials and methods The research takes data of secondary information that rests in the ENEMDU survey updated to December 2018 that includes the characteristics of the EAP in Ecuador. Resultscharacterization of the gender variable, schooling positively influences their hourly wages. Discussion Regarding the gender variable, this long term of not correcting the salary differences may have an impact on old age. ConclusionsWhen there is gender discrimination, it is imperative to identify and quantify the jobs and professions to which women have access in a lesser proportion.

scholarly journals Providing for a Family in the Working Class: Gender and Employment After the Birth of a Child

Social Forces ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 98 (1) ◽  
pp. 183-210 ◽  
Author(s):  
Janette Dill ◽  
Adrianne Frech
Keyword(s):  
Labor Market ◽  
Working Class ◽  
Fixed Effects ◽  
Service Sector ◽  
Transition To Parenthood ◽  
The United States ◽  
Program Participation ◽  
Wage Penalty ◽  
Fatherhood Premium ◽  
The Impact

AbstractNavigating the labor market in today’s economy has become increasingly difficult for those without a college degree. In this study, we ask whether and how working-class men and women in the United States are able to secure gains in wages and/or earnings as they transition to parenthood or increase family size. We look closely at child parity, employment behavior (e.g., switching employers, taking on multiple jobs, increasing hours), and occupation in the year after the birth of a child. Using the 2004 and 2008 panels of the Survey for Income and Program Participation (SIPP), we employ fixed-effects models to examine the impact of changing labor market behavior or occupation on wages and earnings after the birth of a child. We find limited evidence that low- and middle-skill men experience a “fatherhood premium” after the birth of a child, conditional on child parity and occupation. For men, nearly all occupations were associated with a “wage penalty” after the birth of a child (parity varies) compared to the service sector. However, overall higher wages in many male-dominated and white-collar occupations make these better options for fathers. For women, we see clear evidence of a “motherhood penalty,” which is partly accounted for by employment behaviors, such as switching to a salaried job or making an occupational change.

The Motherhood Wage Penalty by Work Conditions: How Do Occupational Characteristics Hinder or Empower Mothers?

2017 ◽  
Vol 82 (4) ◽  
pp. 744-769 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wei-hsin Yu ◽  
Janet Chen-Lan Kuo
Keyword(s):  
Family Conflict ◽  
Fixed Effects ◽  
Structural Characteristics ◽  
Work Conditions ◽  
Work Family Conflict ◽  
Wage Penalty ◽  
Pay Gap ◽  
Occupational Characteristics ◽  
Motherhood Wage Penalty ◽  
Work Family

Mothers are shown to receive lower wages than childless women across industrial countries. Although research on mothers’ wage disadvantage has noted that the extent of this disadvantage is not universal among mothers, it has paid relatively little attention to how the structural characteristics of jobs moderate the price women pay for motherhood. Using data from 16 waves of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth that began in 1997, we examine how the pay gap between mothers and non-mothers varies by occupational characteristics. Deriving hypotheses from three prominent explanations for the motherhood wage penalty—stressing work-family conflict and job performance, compensating differentials, and employer discrimination, respectively—we test whether this penalty changes with an occupation’s exposure to hazardous conditions, schedule regularity, required on-the-job training, competitiveness, level of autonomy, and emphasis on teamwork. Results from fixed-effects models show that the wage reduction for each child is less in occupations with greater autonomy and lower teamwork requirements. Moreover, mothers encounter a smaller penalty when their occupations impose less competitive pressure. On the whole, these findings are consistent with the model focusing on job strain and work-family conflict, adding evidence to the importance of improving job conditions to alleviate work-family conflict.

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