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Identification of the private-public wage gap

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  • Rattsø, Jørn
  • Stokke, Hildegunn E.

Abstract

We suggest an identification strategy for the private-public sector wage gap to correct for the bias resulting from the heterogeneity of unobservable characteristics between shifters and stayers. The analysis applies a fixed effect difference-in-difference model with event study design to estimate the wage gap. As the parallel wage trend assumption between shifters from the public to the private sector and public sector stayers is rejected, late shifters still in the public sector are used as counterfactual group for early shifters. The estimates are based on rich register data for high-educated workers in Norway 1993–2010. Using this novel identification method, we show that due to positive selection, the private-public wage gap is overestimated by about 20% in the standard model comparing shifters with stayers. In an extension of the analysis, we show that the overestimation is the same for male and female workers and is robust across business cycles, although the size of the wage gap is pro-cyclical.

Suggested Citation

  • Rattsø, Jørn & Stokke, Hildegunn E., 2019. "Identification of the private-public wage gap," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 153-163.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:labeco:v:59:y:2019:i:c:p:153-163
    DOI: 10.1016/j.labeco.2019.04.006
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    Cited by:

    1. Jørn Rattsø & Hildegunn E.Stokke, 2018. "Dynamic private-public wage gap: Return to experience, education level and cit effect," Working Paper Series 17518, Department of Economics, Norwegian University of Science and Technology.
    2. Rattsø, Jørn & Stokke, Hildegunn E., 2020. "Private-public wage gap and return to experience: Role of geography, gender and education," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    3. Jørn Rattsø & Hildegunn E Stokke, 2022. "Public sector wage compression and wage inequality: Gender and geographic heterogeneity," Working Paper Series 19522, Department of Economics, Norwegian University of Science and Technology.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Private-public wage gap; Heterogeneity of unobservables; Selection; Register data; Difference-in-difference; Event study;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials
    • J45 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Particular Labor Markets - - - Public Sector Labor Markets
    • J62 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Job, Occupational and Intergenerational Mobility; Promotion

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