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Is There a Glass Ceiling over Europe? Exploring the Gender Pay Gap across the Wages Distribution

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Author Info
Arulampalam, Wiji () (University of Warwick and IZA Bonn)
Booth, Alison L. (Australian National University, University of Essex, CEPR and IZA Bonn)
Bryan, Mark L. (University of Essex)

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Abstract

Using harmonised data from the European Union Household Panel, we analyse gender pay gaps by sector across the wages distribution for ten countries. We find that the mean gender pay gap in the raw data typically hides large variations in the gap across the wages distribution. We use quantile regression (QR) techniques to control for the effects of individual and job characteristics at different points of the distribution, and calculate the part of the gap attributable to differing returns between men and women. We find that, first, gender pay gaps are typically bigger at the top of the wage distribution, a finding that is consistent with the existence of glass ceilings. For some countries gender pay gaps are also bigger at the bottom of the wage distribution, a finding that is consistent with sticky floors. Third, the gender pay gap is typically higher at the top than the bottom end of the wage distribution, suggesting that glass ceilings are more prevalent than sticky floors and that these prevail in the majority of our countries. Fourth, the gender pay gap differs significantly across the public and the private sector wages distribution for each of our EU countries.

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Paper provided by Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA) in its series IZA Discussion Papers with number 1373.

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Length: 34 pages
Date of creation: Oct 2004
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Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp1373

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Related research
Keywords: glass ceilings sticky floors quantile regression public sector gender pay gaps

Other versions of this item:

Find related papers by JEL classification:
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
J7 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor Discrimination

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References listed on IDEAS
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.:
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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. Paul A. Grout & In-Uck Park & Silvia Sonderegger, 2007. "An Economic Theory of the Glass Ceiling," The Centre for Market and Public Organisation 07/183, Department of Economics, University of Bristol, UK. [Downloadable!]
  3. Robert Breunig & Sandrine Rospabe, 2007. "Parametric vs. Semi-parametric Estimation of the Male-Female Wage Gap: An Application to France," CEPR Discussion Papers 548, Centre for Economic Policy Research, Research School of Social Sciences, Australian National University. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  4. Baron, Juan & Cobb-Clark, Deborah, 2008. "Occupational Segregation and the Gender Wage Gap in Private- and Public-Sector Employment: A Distributional Analysis," IZA Discussion Papers 3562, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
  5. 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:
  6. Ina Ganguli & Katherine Terrell, 2005. "Wage Ceilings and Floors: The Gender Gap in Ukraine’s Transition," IZA Discussion Papers 1776, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
  7. Krishna Pendakur & Ravi Pendakur, 2007. "Minority Earnings Disparity Across the Distribution," Canadian Public Policy, University of Toronto Press, vol. 33(1), pages 41-62, March. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  8. 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:
  9. Alison L. Booth, 2006. "The Glass Ceiling in Europe: Why Are Women Doing Badly in the Labour Market?," CEPR Discussion Papers 542, Centre for Economic Policy Research, Research School of Social Sciences, Australian National University. [Downloadable!]
  10. Thomas Dohmen & Hartmut Lehmann & Anzelika Zaiceva, 2008. "The Gender Earnings Gap inside a Russian Firm : First Evidence from Personnel Data - 1997 to 2002 ; Updated Version," ESCIRRU Working Papers 6, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research. [Downloadable!]
  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!]
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  14. Nabanita Datta Gupta & Nina Smith & Mette Verner, 2006. "Child Care and Parental Leave in the Nordic Countries: A Model to Aspire to?," IZA Discussion Papers 2014, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
  15. Mehtabul Azam, 2008. "Changes in Wage Structure in Urban India, 1983-2004: A Quantile Regression Decomposition," Departmental Working Papers 0807, Southern Methodist University, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
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