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The Changing Distribution of Male and Female Wages, 1978-2000: Can the Simple Skills Story be Rejected?

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Gosling, Amanda

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Abstract

This Paper attempts to reconcile two apparently contradictory trends in the UK labour market over the 1980s and 1990s. While wage differentials based on observed skill have risen for men, wage differentials between men and women have fallen. If women earn less than men because they are less skilled, then one would expect differences across genders to follow the same trends as differences across skills. The simplest explanation of the data is that the labour market has become more competitive, resulting in a fall in discrimination and an increase in the return to skill. As this explanation is not directly and easily testable, this Paper examines its plausibility by assessing other explanations for these results.

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Paper provided by C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers in its series CEPR Discussion Papers with number 4045.

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Date of creation: Sep 2003
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Handle: RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:4045

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Related research
Keywords: male-female wage differentials wage inequality

Find related papers by JEL classification:
J30 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - General
J70 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor Discrimination - - - General

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References listed on IDEAS
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  1. Bell, Brian D & Pitt, Michael K, 1998. "Trade Union Decline and the Distribution of Wages in the UK: Evidence from Kernel Density Estimation," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 60(4), pages 509-28, November.
  2. Blau, Francine D & Kahn, Lawrence M, 1996. "International Differences in Male Wage Inequality: Institutions versus Market Forces," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 104(4), pages 791-836, August. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  3. Manning, Alan, 1996. "The Equal Pay Act as an Experiment to Test Theories of the Labour Market," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 63(250), pages 191-212, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  4. Susan Harkness, 1996. "The gender earnings gap: evidence from the UK," Fiscal Studies, Institute for Fiscal Studies, vol. 17(2), pages 1-36, May. [Downloadable!]
  5. Blau, Francine D & Kahn, Lawrence M, 1992. "The Gender Earnings Gap: Learning from International Comparisons," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 82(2), pages 533-38, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  6. David Card & John E. DiNardo, 2002. "Skill-Biased Technological Change and Rising Wage Inequality: Some Problems and Puzzles," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 20(4), pages 733-783, October. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  7. Gosling, Amanda & Machin, Stephen & Meghir, Costas, 2000. "The Changing Distribution of Male Wages in the U.K," Review of Economic Studies, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 67(4), pages 635-66, October.
    Other versions:
  8. Blau, Francine D & Kahn, Lawrence M, 1994. "Rising Wage Inequality and the U.S. Gender Gap," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 84(2), pages 23-28, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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