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Job Tasks and Gender Wage Gaps within Occupations

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  • Bizopoulou, Aspasia

Abstract

I provide evidence that task use at work by men and women in the same occupations is significantly different. The observed difference can account for the within-occupational gender-wage gap that is prevalent in many developed countries. Using data for thirteen European countries, I find that women consistently report spending less time than men on specific job tasks. The effect is exacerbated with fertility and selection into the labour force, however neither mechanism can completely account for the observed differences. The difference is also not accounted for by the type of occupations in which women are employed, nor their working hours and it is not driven by measurement error. Similarly to studies for the US and Australia, I find that a large portion of the gender wage-gap is found among individuals employed in the same occupational titles. However, controlling for both occupations and task use in an wage equation accounts for the entirety of the within-occupational gender wage-gap, for all countries in the sample.

Suggested Citation

  • Bizopoulou, Aspasia, 2019. "Job Tasks and Gender Wage Gaps within Occupations," Working Papers 124, VATT Institute for Economic Research.
    • Handle: RePEc:fer:wpaper:124
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    Cited by:

    1. Assaf Rotman & Hadas Mandel, 2023. "Gender-Specific Wage Structure and the Gender Wage Gap in the U.S. Labor Market," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 165(2), pages 585-606, January.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    task approach; gender wage-gap; occupations; Labour markets and education; J16; J24; J31; Työmarkkinat; Tulonjako ja eriarvoisuus;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials

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