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On Using Pareto Distributions for Measuring Top-Income Gender Disparities

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  • Niels-Jakob Harbo, Hansen

    (International Monetary Fund)

  • Karl, Harmenberg

    (Department of Economics, Copenhagen Business School)

  • Erik, Öberg

    (Uppsala University)

  • Hans-Henrik, Sievertsen

    (University of Bristol)

Abstract

Atkinson et al. (2018) propose a measure of the glass ceiling exploiting that top incomes are approximately Pareto distributed. We clarify how this glass-ceiling coefficient describes the increasing scarcity of women further up in the income distribution and show how it relates to the top-income gender gap. If interpreting top income gender differences as caused by a female-specific income tax, the gender gap and glass ceiling coefficient measure its level and progressivity, respectively. Using Danish data on earnings, we show that the top gender gap and the glass-ceiling coefficient evolves across time, the life cycle, and educational groups.

Suggested Citation

  • Niels-Jakob Harbo, Hansen & Karl, Harmenberg & Erik, Öberg & Hans-Henrik, Sievertsen, 2019. "On Using Pareto Distributions for Measuring Top-Income Gender Disparities," Working Papers 9-2019, Copenhagen Business School, Department of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:hhs:cbsnow:2019_009
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    1. Burdín, Gabriel & De Rosa, Mauricio & Vigorito, Andrea & Vilá, Joan, 2022. "Falling inequality and the growing capital income share: Reconciling divergent trends in survey and tax data," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 152(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    decomposition; gender gap; glass ceiling; summary statistics;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C10 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric and Statistical Methods and Methodology: General - - - General
    • 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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