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Male-Female Wage Discrimination in Nineteenth-Century France

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  • Cox, Donald
  • Nye, John Vincent

Abstract

Traditional male-female wage discrimination measures rely on residuals from earnings functions that standardize for observable characteristics. But many productivity determinants are unobservable, and existing proxies for them are often difficult to interpret. Instead of using the earnings-function approach, we estimate production functions, using data from the 1839–45 and 1860–65 French industry censuses for textiles. While most of our findings cast doubt on the idea of discrimination against women in pay, they do not rule out some other forms of discrimination, such as occupational segregation.

Suggested Citation

  • Cox, Donald & Nye, John Vincent, 1989. "Male-Female Wage Discrimination in Nineteenth-Century France," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 49(4), pages 903-920, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:cup:jechis:v:49:y:1989:i:04:p:903-920_00
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    Cited by:

    1. Alexandre Frondizi & Simon Porcher, 2021. "The economics of street-level prostitution in Paris during the ‘Belle Epoque’ (1870-1914)," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 53(10), pages 1163-1177, February.
    2. Pilar Beneito & José J. Garcia-Gómez, 2022. "Gender Gaps in Wages and Mortality Rates During Industrialization: The Case of Alcoy, Spain, 1860–1914," Feminist Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 28(1), pages 114-141, January.
    3. Judith K. Hellerstein & David Neumark, 2006. "Using Matched Employer–Employee Data to Study Labor Market Discrimination," Chapters, in: William M. Rodgers III (ed.), Handbook on the Economics of Discrimination, chapter 2, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    4. Joyce Burnette, 2011. "The Emergence of Wage Discrimination in U.S. Manufacturing," Working Papers 11-18, Center for Economic Studies, U.S. Census Bureau.
    5. Bj�rn Eriksson & Maria Stanfors, 2015. "A winning strategy? The employment of women and firm longevity during industrialisation," Business History, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 57(7), pages 988-1004, October.
    6. Tim Leunig & Maria Stanfors, 2010. "Piece-rates and prosperity: evidence from the late nineteenth-century tobacco industry," Working Papers 10003, Economic History Society.
    7. Hellerstein, Judith K & Neumark, David & Troske, Kenneth R, 1999. "Wages, Productivity, and Worker Characteristics: Evidence from Plant-Level Production Functions and Wage Equations," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 17(3), pages 409-446, July.
    8. Petersen, Trond & Snartland, Vermund & Meyersson Milgrom, Eva M., 2006. "Are Female Workers Less Productive Than Male Workers?," Institute for Research on Labor and Employment, Working Paper Series qt5619b3vh, Institute of Industrial Relations, UC Berkeley.
    9. Kumon, Yuzuru & Sakai, Kazuho, 2022. "Women's Wages and Empowerment : Pre-industrial Japan, 1600-1890," CEI Working Paper Series 2022-05, Center for Economic Institutions, Institute of Economic Research, Hitotsubashi University.
    10. Spennemann Dirk H.R., 2021. "Instant Gloss: Promoting Paint in 1840s Paris. The Example of Louis Viard’s Chromo-Duro-Phane Varnish," Studia Historiae Oeconomicae, Sciendo, vol. 39(1), pages 77-124, December.
    11. Joyce Burnette, 2012. "Testing for Wage Discrimination in U.S. Manufacturing," Working Papers 12-23, Center for Economic Studies, U.S. Census Bureau.
    12. Liqin Zhang & Xiao‐Yuan Dong, 2008. "Male–female wage discrimination in Chinese industry Investigation using firm‐level data1," The Economics of Transition, The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, vol. 16(1), pages 85-112, January.
    13. Kumon, Yuzuru & Sakai, Kazuho, 2022. "Women’s Wages and Empowerment: Pre-industrial Japan, 1600-1890," Discussion Paper Series in Economics 18/2022, Norwegian School of Economics, Department of Economics.

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