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Decomposing the Gender Wage Gap in the Netherlands with Sample Selection Adjustments

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Author Info
James Albrecht () (Georgetown University, Washington, USA)
Aico van Vuuren () (Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam)
Susan Vroman () (Georgetown University, Washington, USA)

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Abstract

In this paper, we use quantile regression decomposition methods to analyze the gender gap between men and women who work full time in the Nether- lands. Because the fraction of women working full time in the Netherlands is quite low, sample selection is a serious issue. In addition to shedding light on the sources of the gender gap in the Netherlands, we make two methodolog- ical contributions. First, we prove that the Machado-Mata quantile regres- sion decomposition procedure yields consistent and asymptotically normal estimates of the quantiles of the counterfactual distribution that it is de- signed to simulate. Second, we show how the technique can be extended to account for selection. We find that there is a positive selection of women into full-time work in the Netherlands, i.e., women who get the greatest return to working full time do work full time. We find that about two-thirds of this selection is due to observables such as education and experience with the remainder due to unobservables. Our decompositions show that the majority of the gender log wage gap is due to differences between men and women in returns to labor market characteristics rather than to differences in the characteristics. This is true across the wage distribution, particularly in the top half of the distribution.

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Paper provided by Tinbergen Institute in its series Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers with number 04-123/3.

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Date of creation: 18 Nov 2004
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Handle: RePEc:dgr:uvatin:20040123

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Related research
Keywords: Gender; quantile regression; selection;

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
C24 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Single Equation Models; Single Variables - - - Truncated and Censored Models
J22 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Time Allocation and Labor Supply
J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials
J71 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor Discrimination - - - Hiring and Firing

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Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
  1. Manski, C.F., 1990. "The Selection Problem," Working papers 90-12, Wisconsin Madison - Social Systems.
  2. Gubta, Nabanita Datta & Oaxaca, Ronald L. & Smith, Nina, 2002. "Swimming Upstream, Floating Downstream: Trends in the U.S. and Danish Gender Wage Gaps," CLS Working Papers 01-6, University of Aarhus, Aarhus School of Business, Centre for Labour Market and Social Research. [Downloadable!]
  3. Heckman, James J, 1979. "Sample Selection Bias as a Specification Error," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 47(1), pages 153-61, January. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  4. Dorothe Bonjour & Michael Gerfin, 2001. "The unequal distribution of unequal pay - An empirical analysis of the gender wage gap in Switzerland," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 26(2), pages 407-427. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  5. Mitali Das & Whitney K. Newey & Francis Vella, 2003. "Nonparametric Estimation of Sample Selection Models," Review of Economic Studies, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 70(1), pages 33-58, January.
  6. Bernd Fitzenberger & Gaby Wunderlich, 2002. "Gender Wage Differences in West Germany: A Cohort Analysis," German Economic Review, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 3(4), pages 379-414, November. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  7. Fitzenberger, Bernd & Wunderlich, Gaby, 2001. "The changing gender gap across the wage distribution in the UK," ZEW Discussion Papers 01-56, ZEW - Zentrum für Europäische Wirtschaftsforschung / Center for European Economic Research. [Downloadable!]
  8. Oaxaca, Ronald, 1973. "Male-Female Wage Differentials in Urban Labor Markets," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 14(3), pages 693-709, October. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  9. Richard Blundell & Amanda Gosling & Hidehiko Ichimura & Costas Meghir, 2004. "Changes in the distribution of male and female wages accounting for employment composition using bounds," IFS Working Papers W04/25, Institute for Fiscal Studies. [Downloadable!]
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  10. Dolado, Juan J. & Llorens, Vanesa, 2004. "Gender Wage Gaps by Education in Spain: Glass Floors versus Glass Ceilings," CEPR Discussion Papers 4203, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  11. José Mata & José A. F. Machado, 2005. "Counterfactual decomposition of changes in wage distributions using quantile regression," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 20(4), pages 445-465. [Downloadable!]
  12. James Albrecht & Anders Bjorklund & Susan Vroman, 2003. "Is There a Glass Ceiling in Sweden?," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 21(1), pages 145-177, January. [Downloadable!]
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  13. Moshe Buchinsky, 1998. "The dynamics of changes in the female wage distribution in the USA: a quantile regression approach," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 13(1), pages 1-30. [Downloadable!]
  14. Ichimura, H., 1991. "Semiparametric Least Squares (sls) and Weighted SLS Estimation of Single- Index Models," Papers 264, Minnesota - Center for Economic Research.
  15. Gerard J. van den Berg & Geert Ridder, 1998. "An Empirical Equilibrium Search Model of the Labor Market," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 66(5), pages 1183-1222, September.
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Cited by:
(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Tindara ADDABBO & Donata Favaro, 2007. "Education and wage differentials by gender in Italy," CHILD Working Papers wp04_07, CHILD - Centre for Household, Income, Labour and Demographic economics - ITALY. [Downloadable!]
  2. Florentino Felgueroso & Juan Prieto Rodríguez & María José Pérez-Villadóniga, 2007. "Collective Bargaining and the GenderWage Gap: A Quantile Regression Approach," Working Papers 2007-06, FEDEA. [Downloadable!]
  3. Dragana Djurdjevic & Sergiy Radyakin, 2005. "Decomposition of the Gender Wage Gap Using Matching: an Application for Switzerland," Darmstadt Discussion Papers in Economics 155, Institut für Volkswirtschaftslehre (Department of Economics), Technische Universität Darmstadt (Darmstadt University of Technology). [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  4. Olivetti, Claudia & Petrongolo, Barbara, 2006. "Unequal Pay or Unequal Employment? A Cross-Country Analysis of Gender Gaps," CEPR Discussion Papers 5506, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  5. de la Rica, Sara & Dolado, Juan J. & Llorens, Vanesa, 2005. "Ceiling and Floors: Gender Wage Gaps by Education in Spain," IZA Discussion Papers 1483, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  6. Wolf Dieter Heinbach & Markus Spindler, 2007. "To Bind or Not to Bind Collectively? Decomposition of Bargained Wage Differences Using Counterfactual Distributions," Diskussionspapiere aus dem Institut für Volkswirtschaftslehre der Universität Hohenheim 294/2007, Department of Economics, University of Hohenheim, Germany. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  7. Sara Rica & Juan Dolado & Vanesa Llorens, 2008. "Ceilings or floors? Gender wage gaps by education in Spain," Journal of Population Economics, Springer, vol. 21(3), pages 751-776, July. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  8. Spyros Konstantopoulos & Amelie Constant, 2005. "The Gender Gap Reloaded: Is School Quality Linked to Labor Market Performance?," IZA Discussion Papers 1830, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
  9. Coral del Río & Carlos Gradín & Olga Cantó, 2006. "The measurement of gender wage discrimination: The distributional approach revisited," Working Papers 25, ECINEQ, Society for the Study of Economic Inequality. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  10. Bargain, Olivier & Kwenda, Prudence, 2009. "The Informal Sector Wage Gap: New Evidence Using Quantile Estimations on Panel Data," IZA Discussion Papers 4286, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  11. Hiau Joo Kee, 2005. "Glass Ceiling or Sticky Floor? Exploring the Australian Gender Pay Gap using Quantile Regression and Counterfactual Decomposition Methods," CEPR Discussion Papers 487, Centre for Economic Policy Research, Research School of Social Sciences, Australian National University. [Downloadable!]
  12. Chzhen, Yekaterina & Mumford, Karen A., 2009. "Gender Gaps across the Earnings Distribution in Britain: Are Women Bossy Enough?," IZA Discussion Papers 4331, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
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