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Gender disparities in top earnings: measurement and facts for Denmark 1980-2013

Author

Listed:
  • Niels-Jakob Harbo Hansen

    (International Monetary Fund)

  • Karl Harmenberg

    (Copenhagen Business School)

  • Erik Öberg

    (Uppsala University)

  • Hans Henrik Sievertsen

    (University of Bristol)

Abstract

Extending the work of Atkinson et al. (J. Econ. Inequal. 16, 225–256, 2018), we decompose top-earnings gender disparities into a glass-ceiling coefficient and a top-earnings gender gap. The decomposition uses that both male and female top earnings are Pareto distributed. If interpreting top-earnings gender disparities as caused by a female-specific earnings tax, the top-earnings gender gap and glass-ceiling coefficient measure the tax level and tax progressivity, respectively. Using Danish data on earnings, we show that the top-earnings gender gap and the glass-ceiling coefficient evolve differently across time, the life cycle, and educational groups. In particular, while the top-earnings gender gap has been decreasing in Denmark over the period 1980-2013, the glass-ceiling coefficient has been remarkably stable.

Suggested Citation

  • Niels-Jakob Harbo Hansen & Karl Harmenberg & Erik Öberg & Hans Henrik Sievertsen, 2021. "Gender disparities in top earnings: measurement and facts for Denmark 1980-2013," The Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer;Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, vol. 19(2), pages 347-362, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:joecin:v:19:y:2021:i:2:d:10.1007_s10888-020-09476-1
    DOI: 10.1007/s10888-020-09476-1
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Decomposition; Gender gap; Glass ceiling; Summary statistics;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C10 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric and Statistical Methods and Methodology: General - - - General
    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials
    • J71 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor Discrimination - - - Hiring and Firing

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