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Distributional Changes in the Gender Wage Gap

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  • de New, Sonja C.

    (Monash University)

  • Sinning, Mathias

    (Australian National University)

Abstract

This paper analyzes changes in wage differentials between white men and white women over the period 1993-2006 across the entire wage distribution using Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID) data. We decompose distributional changes in the gender wage gap to assess the contribution of observed characteristics measuring individual productivity. We find that the gender wage gap narrowed by more than 13 percent at the lowest decile and by less than 4 percent at the highest decile. The decomposition results indicate that changes in the gender wage gap are mainly attributable to changes in educational attainment at the top of the wage distribution, while a sizeable part of the changes is due to work history changes at the bottom. Our findings suggest that the educational success of women could reduce the gender wage gap at the bottom of the distribution both before and during the 1990s but did not trigger a strong decline at the top of the distribution until today.

Suggested Citation

  • de New, Sonja C. & Sinning, Mathias, 2010. "Distributional Changes in the Gender Wage Gap," IZA Discussion Papers 5303, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp5303
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    gender wage gap; decomposition analysis; unconditional quantile regression;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C21 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Single Equation Models; Single Variables - - - Cross-Sectional Models; Spatial Models; Treatment Effect Models
    • 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

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