IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/pal/compes/v67y2025i2d10.1057_s41294-025-00252-6.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The persistence of gender pay and employment gaps in European countries

Author

Listed:
  • António Afonso

    (ISEG/UL-Universidade de Lisboa
    Center for Economic Studies and Ifo Institute)

  • M. Carmen Blanco-Arana

    (University of Malaga)

Abstract

We assess the factors that influence the gender pay gap and gender employment gap across an unbalanced panel of 31 European countries over the period 2000–2022, and estimate a system generalized method of moment model (GMM). We find that tertiary education reduces gender pay gap, and part-time and temporary contracts significantly increase this gap. Moreover, part-time reduces significantly gender employment gap, and both secondary and tertiary education as well. Additionally, for countries with GDP per capita below the sample mean, temporary work and part-time work significantly increases the gender pay gap. Nevertheless, for both group of countries (below and above GDP per capita sample mean), temporary work increases, whereas part-time work decreases the gender employment gap, highlighting the importance of being working or not. Finally, in higher income countries, education is the crucial determinant in reducing these gaps. Results are robust with fixed effects models.

Suggested Citation

  • António Afonso & M. Carmen Blanco-Arana, 2025. "The persistence of gender pay and employment gaps in European countries," Comparative Economic Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Association for Comparative Economic Studies, vol. 67(2), pages 326-354, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:pal:compes:v:67:y:2025:i:2:d:10.1057_s41294-025-00252-6
    DOI: 10.1057/s41294-025-00252-6
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1057/s41294-025-00252-6
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1057/s41294-025-00252-6?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to look for a different version below or

    for a different version of it.

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Elena Bárcena-Martín & Ana I. Moro-Egido, 2013. "Gender and Poverty Risk in Europe," Feminist Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 19(2), pages 69-99, April.
    2. Arellano, Manuel & Bover, Olympia, 1995. "Another look at the instrumental variable estimation of error-components models," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 68(1), pages 29-51, July.
    3. Hausman, Jerry A & Taylor, William E, 1981. "Panel Data and Unobservable Individual Effects," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 49(6), pages 1377-1398, November.
    4. Jerry Hausman, 2015. "Specification tests in econometrics," Applied Econometrics, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA), vol. 38(2), pages 112-134.
    5. Blundell, Richard & Bond, Stephen, 1998. "Initial conditions and moment restrictions in dynamic panel data models," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 87(1), pages 115-143, August.
    6. António Afonso & M. Carmen Blanco-Arana, 2024. "Unemployment and Financial Development: Evidence for OECD Countries," Comparative Economic Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Association for Comparative Economic Studies, vol. 66(4), pages 661-683, December.
    7. Afonso, António & Jalles, João Tovar, 2013. "Growth and productivity: The role of government debt," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 25(C), pages 384-407.
    8. Hélène Périvier, 2014. "Men and women during the economic crisis. Employment trends in eight European countries," Revue de l'OFCE, Presses de Sciences-Po, vol. 0(2), pages 41-84.
    9. Christopher A. Pissarides, 2009. "The Unemployment Volatility Puzzle: Is Wage Stickiness the Answer?," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 77(5), pages 1339-1369, September.
    10. Demirguc-Kunt, Asli & Klapper, Leora & Singer, Dorothe, 2013. "Financial inclusion and legal discrimination against women : evidence from developing countries," Policy Research Working Paper Series 6416, The World Bank.
    11. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/667s065gqe8qg8pre3e1kb7gb6 is not listed on IDEAS
    12. repec:spo:wpmain:info:hdl:2441/667s065gqe8qg8pre3e1kb7gb6 is not listed on IDEAS
    13. Mª Antonia Ribas Bonet & Antonia Sajardo Moreno, 2011. "Desigualdad de género en tiempos de crisis: análisis comparativo de la economía social [Gender inequality in times of crisis: a comparative analysis of social economy]," REVESCO: Revista de estudios cooperativos, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Facultad de Ciencias Económicas y Empresariales, Escuela de Estudios Cooperativos, issue 105, pages 34-56.
    14. Luca Zanin & Raffaella Calabrese, 2017. "Interaction effects of region-level GDP per capita and age on labour market transition rates in Italy," IZA Journal of Labor Economics, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 6(1), pages 1-29, December.
    15. Barry P. Bosworth & Susan M. Collins, 2003. "The Empirics of Growth: An Update," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 34(2), pages 113-206.
    16. Stephan Klasen & Francesca Lamanna, 2009. "The Impact of Gender Inequality in Education and Employment on Economic Growth: New Evidence for a Panel of Countries," Feminist Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 15(3), pages 91-132.
    17. Anil Duman, 2023. "The Gendered Relationship Between Temporary, Informal Employment and Wages: Evidence from the Turkish Labor Market," Feminist Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 29(4), pages 194-222, October.
    18. Nickell, Stephen J, 1981. "Biases in Dynamic Models with Fixed Effects," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 49(6), pages 1417-1426, November.
    19. Stephanie Seguino, 2000. "Accounting for Gender in Asian Economic Growth," Feminist Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 6(3), pages 27-58.
    20. Ablam Estel Apeti & Bao-We-Wal Bambe & Aguima Aime Bernard Lompo, 2024. "Determinants of public sector efficiency: a panel database from a stochastic frontier analysis," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 76(3), pages 741-758.
    21. Manuel Arellano & Stephen Bond, 1991. "Some Tests of Specification for Panel Data: Monte Carlo Evidence and an Application to Employment Equations," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 58(2), pages 277-297.
    22. Nelson, Charles R. & Plosser, Charles I., 1982. "Trends and random walks in macroeconmic time series : Some evidence and implications," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 10(2), pages 139-162.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Angel De la Fuente, 2010. "Infrastructures and productivity: an updated survey," Working Papers 1018, BBVA Bank, Economic Research Department.
    2. Sansia Blackmore & Renee van Eyden, 2020. "A Sequence to Reverse Poverty: Institutions, State Capacity and Human Empowerment," Working Papers 202080, University of Pretoria, Department of Economics.
    3. Maria Elena Bontempi & Jan Ditzen, 2023. "GMM-lev estimation and individual heterogeneity: Monte Carlo evidence and empirical applications," Papers 2312.00399, arXiv.org, revised Dec 2023.
    4. Huy Quang Doan, 2019. "Trade, Institutional Quality and Income: Empirical Evidence for Sub-Saharan Africa," Economies, MDPI, vol. 7(2), pages 1-23, May.
    5. Hsiao, Cheng & Hashem Pesaran, M. & Kamil Tahmiscioglu, A., 2002. "Maximum likelihood estimation of fixed effects dynamic panel data models covering short time periods," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 109(1), pages 107-150, July.
    6. Andrés Rodríguez-Pose & Tobias D. Ketterer, 2012. "Do Local Amenities Affect The Appeal Of Regions In Europe For Migrants?," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 52(4), pages 535-561, October.
    7. Mogues, Tewodaj & Benin, Samuel, 2012. "Do External Grants to District Governments Discourage Own Revenue Generation? A Look at Local Public Finance Dynamics in Ghana," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 40(5), pages 1054-1067.
    8. Robert Lensink & Roselia Servin & Marrit Berg, 2017. "Do Savings and Credit Institutions Reduce Vulnerability? New Evidence From Mexico," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 63(2), pages 335-352, June.
    9. Rahman, Mizanur, 2008. "The Impact of a Common Currency on East Asian Production Networks and China’s Exports Behavior," MPRA Paper 13931, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    10. Capolupo, Rosa, 2009. "The New Growth Theories and Their Empirics after Twenty Years," Economics - The Open-Access, Open-Assessment E-Journal (2007-2020), Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel), vol. 3, pages 1-72.
    11. Johanna Vogel, 2012. "Agglomeration and Growth: Evidence from the Regions of Central and Eastern Europe," ERSA conference papers ersa12p1089, European Regional Science Association.
    12. Varvara Isyuk, 2014. "Resuming bank lending in the aftermath of the Capital Purchase Program," Université Paris1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (Post-Print and Working Papers) halshs-01093414, HAL.
    13. Martin Andersson & Hans Lööf, 2011. "Agglomeration and productivity: evidence from firm-level data," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 46(3), pages 601-620, June.
    14. Sebastian Kripfganz & Claudia Schwarz, 2019. "Estimation of linear dynamic panel data models with time‐invariant regressors," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 34(4), pages 526-546, June.
    15. Seo, Myung Hwan & Shin, Yongcheol, 2016. "Dynamic panels with threshold effect and endogeneity," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 195(2), pages 169-186.
    16. Osvaldo Lagares, 2016. "Capital, Economic Growth and Relative Income Differences in Latin America," Discussion Papers 16/03, Department of Economics, University of York.
    17. Petreski, Marjan, 2009. "Analysis of exchange-rate regime effect on growth: theoretical channels and empirical evidence with panel data," Economics Discussion Papers 2009-49, Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel).
    18. Atilla Çifter, 2015. "Bank concentration and non-performing loans in Central and Eastern European countries," Journal of Business Economics and Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 16(1), pages 117-137, February.
    19. Barabas, György & Kitlinski, Tobias & Schmidt, Christoph M. & Schmidt, Torsten & Siemers, Lars-H. & Brilon, Werner, 2010. "Verkehrsinfrastrukturinvestitionen: Wachstumsaspekte im Rahmen einer gestaltenden Finanzpolitik. Endbericht - Januar 2010. Forschungsprojekt im Auftrag des Bundesministeriums der Finanzen. Projektnumm," RWI Projektberichte, RWI - Leibniz-Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, number 72601.
    20. Mayer, Alexander, 2022. "On the local power of some tests of strict exogeneity in linear fixed effects models," Econometrics and Statistics, Elsevier, vol. 24(C), pages 49-74.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    JEL classification:

    • J0 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - General
    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
    • C23 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Single Equation Models; Single Variables - - - Models with Panel Data; Spatio-temporal Models

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:pal:compes:v:67:y:2025:i:2:d:10.1057_s41294-025-00252-6. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.palgrave-journals.com/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.