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Is There a Glass Ceiling over Germany?

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  • Collischon Matthias

    (Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg, Erlangen, Germany)

Abstract

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.

Suggested Citation

  • Collischon Matthias, 2019. "Is There a Glass Ceiling over Germany?," German Economic Review, De Gruyter, vol. 20(4), pages 329-359, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:bpj:germec:v:20:y:2019:i:4:p:e329-e359
    DOI: 10.1111/geer.12168
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    2. Briel, Stephanie & Osikominu, Aderonke & Pfeifer, Gregor & Reutter, Mirjam & Satlukal, Sascha, 2020. "Overconfidence and Gender Differences in Wage Expectations," IZA Discussion Papers 13517, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    3. Philipp Heß, 2020. "SDG 5 and the Gender Gap in Standardization: Empirical Evidence From Germany," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(20), pages 1-20, October.
    4. Fedderke, Johannes W. & Chen, Tinghua, 2023. "Generalizing the “Masterpiece Effect” in fine art pricing: Quantile Hedonic regression results for the South African fine art market, 2009–2021," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 124(C).
    5. Battisti, Michele & Kinne, Lavinia & Fedorets, Alexandra, 2022. "Cognitive Skills among Adults: An Impeding Factor for Gender Convergence?," VfS Annual Conference 2022 (Basel): Big Data in Economics 264110, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    6. Stephanie Briel & Aderonke Osikominu & Gregor Pfeifer & Mirjam Reutter & Sascha Satlukal, 2022. "Gender differences in wage expectations: the role of biased beliefs," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 62(1), pages 187-212, January.
    7. Boris Hirsch & Philipp Lentge, 2022. "Non‐base compensation and the gender pay gap," LABOUR, CEIS, vol. 36(3), pages 277-301, September.
    8. Hirsch, Boris & Lentge, Philipp, 2021. "Non-Base Compensation and the Gender Pay Gap," IZA Discussion Papers 14551, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    9. Lukas Kiessling & Pia Pinger & Philipp Seegers & Jan Bergerhoff, 2024. "Gender Differences in Wage Expectations and Negotiation," CRC TR 224 Discussion Paper Series crctr224_2024_496, University of Bonn and University of Mannheim, Germany.
    10. Lukas Kiessling & Pia Pinger & Philipp Seegers & Jan Bergerhoff, 2023. "Gender Differences in Wage Expectations and Negotiation," CESifo Working Paper Series 10838, CESifo.
    11. Boris Hirsch & Philipp Lentge, 2021. "Non-Base Compensation and the Gender Pay Gap," Working Paper Series in Economics 404, University of Lüneburg, Institute of Economics.
    12. Collischon & Matthias, 2018. "Can Personality Traits Explain Glass Ceilings?," SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research 965, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).
    13. Burcu Akkaya, 2020. "Opinions of Educational Administrators on Glass Ceiling Syndrome Preventing Women from Becoming Senior Managers," Journal of Education and Training Studies, Redfame publishing, vol. 8(3), pages 76-89, March.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Gender wage gap; gender pay gap; glass ceiling;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C21 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Single Equation Models; Single Variables - - - Cross-Sectional Models; Spatial Models; Treatment Effect Models
    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials

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