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The US Gender Pay Gap in the 1990s: Slowing Convergence

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Author Info
Francine D. Blau
Lawrence M. Kahn

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Abstract

We use data from the Michigan Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID) to study the slowdown in the convergence of female and male wages in the 1990s compared to the 1980s. We found that changes in human capital did not contribute to the trends, since women improved their relative human capital to a comparable extent in the 1980s and the 1990s. Occupational upgrading of women and deunionization explained a portion of the slower 1990s convergence since the positive effect of these factors on women's relative wage gains was larger in the 1980s. However, the largest factor accounting for the slowing of wage convergence was the trend in the "unexplained gap," which was sufficient to more than fully account for the slowdown in wage convergence in the 1990s. Factors that may have contributed to the slower narrowing of the unexplained gender pay gap include changes in labor force selectivity, changes in gender differences in unmeasured characteristics and labor market discrimination, and changes in the favorableness of supply and demand shifts. We find some evidence consistent with each of these factors suggesting that each may have played a role in explaining the observed trends.

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Paper provided by National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc in its series NBER Working Papers with number 10853.

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Date of creation: Oct 2004
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Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:10853

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
J3 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs
J7 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor Discrimination

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Full references

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. Francine D. Blau & Lawrence M. Kahn, 2006. "Changes in the Labor Supply Behavior of Married Women: 1980-2000," IZA Discussion Papers 2180, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  2. Andrea Ichino & Enrico Moretti, 2006. "Biological Gender Differences, Absenteeism and the Earning Gap," IZA Discussion Papers 2207, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  3. Gurleen Popli, 2008. "Gender wage discrimination in Mexico: A distributional approach," Working Papers 2008006, The University of Sheffield, Department of Economics, revised Apr 2008. [Downloadable!]
  4. Elisabeth Hermann Frederiksen, 2006. "An Equilibrium Analysis of the Gender Wage Gap," EPRU Working Paper Series 06-08, Economic Policy Research Unit (EPRU), University of Copenhagen. Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
  5. Qingyan Shang & Bruce A. Weinberg, 2009. "Opting For Families: Recent Trends in the Fertility of Highly Educated Women," NBER Working Papers 15074, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  6. Alison L. Booth & Patrick Nolen, 2009. "Choosing To Compete: How Different Are Girls and Boys?," Economics Discussion Papers 673, University of Essex, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
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  7. Claudia Olivetti, . "Gender and the Labour Market: An International Perspective and the case of Italy," Boston University - Department of Economics - Working Papers Series wp2009-010, Boston University - Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
  8. Luca Flabbi, 2007. "Prejudice and Gender Differentials in the U.S. Labor Market in the Last Twenty Years," Working Papers gueconwpa~07-07-07, Georgetown University, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
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  9. Claudia Olivetti, 2008. "Gender and the Labour Market: An International Perspective and the Case of Italy," Rivista di Politica Economica, SIPI Spa, vol. 98(3), pages 3-32, May-June. [Downloadable!]
  10. Frenette, Marc & Coulombe, Simon, 2007. "Has Higher Education Among Young Women Substantially Reduced the Gender Gap in Employment and Earnings?," Analytical Studies Branch Research Paper Series 2007301e, Statistics Canada, Analytical Studies Branch. [Downloadable!]
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