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A New Method for Estimating Public Sector Pay Premia: Evidence from Britain in the 1990's

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  • Disney, Richard F
  • Gosling, Amanda

Abstract

This Paper looks at public sector pay in Britain. We present a novel instrument that exploits the variation in public sector status across individuals arising from the privatisation programme of the 1990s. We show formally that results that are estimated may thereby be robust to self-selection and measurement error, both of which are important and which bias cross-sectional estimates. Our results suggest that women in the public sector earn more then they could elsewhere, whilst, on average, men do not.

Suggested Citation

  • Disney, Richard F & Gosling, Amanda, 2003. "A New Method for Estimating Public Sector Pay Premia: Evidence from Britain in the 1990's," CEPR Discussion Papers 3787, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    • Handle: RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:3787
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    Cited by:

    1. Monojit Chatterji & Karen Mumford & Peter Smith, 2011. "The public-private sector gender wage differential in Britain: evidence from matched employee-workplace data," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 43(26), pages 3819-3833.
    2. Dickson, Matt & Postel-Vinay, Fabien & Turon, Hélène, 2014. "The lifetime earnings premium in the public sector: The view from Europe," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 31(C), pages 141-161.
    3. 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.
    4. 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).
    5. Fabien Postel-Vinay & Hélène Turon, 2007. "The Public Pay Gap in Britain: Small Differences That (Don't?) Matter," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 117(523), pages 1460-1503, October.
    6. Bargain, Olivier & Melly, Blaise, 2008. "Public Sector Pay Gap in France: New Evidence Using Panel Data," IZA Discussion Papers 3427, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    7. Domenico Depalo & Raffaella Giordano, 2011. "The public-private pay gap: a robust quantile approach," Giornale degli Economisti, GDE (Giornale degli Economisti e Annali di Economia), Bocconi University, vol. 70(1), pages 25-64, January.
    8. Ghazala Azmat & Alan Manning & John Van Reenen, 2007. "Privatization, Entry Regulation and the Decline of Labor's Share of GDP: A Cross-Country Analysis of the Network Industries," CEP Discussion Papers dp0806, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    9. Claudio Lucifora & Dominique Meurs, 2006. "The Public Sector Pay Gap In France, Great Britain And Italy," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 52(1), pages 43-59, March.
    10. Jelena Lausev, 2014. "WHAT HAS 20 YEARS OF PUBLIC–PRIVATE PAY GAP LITERATURE TOLD US? EASTERN EUROPEAN TRANSITIONING vs. DEVELOPED ECONOMIES," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(3), pages 516-550, July.
    11. Gabriela Grotkowska & Leszek Wincenciak & Tomasz Gajderowicz, 2017. "Evolution of the Public-Sector Wage Premium in Poland," Gospodarka Narodowa. The Polish Journal of Economics, Warsaw School of Economics, issue 1, pages 5-31.
    12. David Bell & Robert F. Elliott & Ada Ma & Anthony Scott & Elizabeth Roberts, 2007. "The Pattern And Evolution Of Geographical Wage Differentials In The Public And Private Sectors In Great Britain," Manchester School, University of Manchester, vol. 75(4), pages 386-421, July.
    13. Dominique Meurs & Cyriaque Edon, 2007. "France: A Limited Effect Of Regions On Public Wage Differentials?," Manchester School, University of Manchester, vol. 75(4), pages 479-500, July.
    14. Carlo Dell'Aringa & Claudio Lucifora & Federica Origo, 2007. "Public Sector Pay And Regional Competitiveness. A First Look At Regional Public–Private Wage Differentials In Italy," Manchester School, University of Manchester, vol. 75(4), pages 445-478, July.
    15. Dickson, Matt & Postel-Vinay, Fabien & Turon, Hélène, 2014. "The lifetime earnings premium in the public sector: The view from Europe," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 31(C), pages 141-161.
    16. Jelena Nikolic, 2017. "Wage policies in the public sector during wholesale privatization," IZA World of Labor, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), pages 388-388, October.
    17. Monojit Chatterji & Karen Mumford & Peter N Smith, 2007. "The Public-Private Sector Wage Differential: Gender, Workplaces and Family Friendliness," Dundee Discussion Papers in Economics 202, Economic Studies, University of Dundee.
    18. Rowena Crawford & Richard Disney, 2015. "Wage regulation and the quality of police officer recruits," IFS Working Papers W15/19, Institute for Fiscal Studies.
    19. Nigel F. B. Allington & Philip I. Morgan, 2003. "Does it Pay to Work in the Public Sector? Evidence from Three Decades of Econometric Analyses," Public Money & Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 23(4), pages 253-262, October.
    20. Boyle, Gerry & McElligott, Rory & O'Leary, Jim, 2004. "Public-Private Wage Differentials in Ireland, 1994-2001," Quarterly Economic Commentary: Special Articles, Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI), vol. 2004(2-Summer), pages 1-23.
    21. Rowena Crawford & Richard Disney, 2018. "Wage Regulation and the Quality of Police Applicants," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 85(340), pages 701-734, October.
    22. Lixin Cai & Amy Y. C. Liu, 2011. "Public–Private Sector Wage Gap in Australia: Variation along the Distribution," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 49(2), pages 362-390, June.
    23. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/1frfnu9k0921o6s94ptnm0q4o is not listed on IDEAS
    24. Andrew Chamberlain, 2015. "Are State Workers Overpaid? Survey Evidence from Liquor Privatization in Washington State," Journal of Labor Research, Springer, vol. 36(4), pages 347-388, December.
    25. Paolo Ghinetti, 2014. "A New Look at the Public Wage Premium in Italy: The Role of Schooling Endogeneity," LABOUR, CEIS, vol. 28(1), pages 87-111, March.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Measurement error; Pay determination; Selection effects;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials

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