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When do 'Female' Occupations Pay More?

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  • Jurajda, Å tÄ›pán
  • Harmgart, Heike

Abstract

We compare the importance of occupational gender segregation for the gender wage gap in East and West Germany in 1995 using a sample of social-security wage records for full-time workers. East Germany, which features a somewhat higher degree of occupational segregation, has a gender wage gap in the order of one fifth of the West German gap. Segregation is not related to the West German wage gap, but in East Germany, wages of both men and women are higher in predominantly female occupations. East German female employees apparently have better observable and unobservable characteristics than their male colleagues. These findings are in contrast to a large US literature, but are consistent with the imposition of high wage levels in East Germany at the outset of reforms and the selection of only high-skill women into employment. Finally, conditioning on unobservable labour quality differences using the longitudinal dimension of the data, there is a negligible impact of segregation in both parts of Germany.

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  • Jurajda, Å tÄ›pán & Harmgart, Heike, 2004. "When do 'Female' Occupations Pay More?," CEPR Discussion Papers 4270, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    • Handle: RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:4270
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    2. Cristiano Perugini & Ekaterina Selezneva, 2015. "Labour market institutions, crisis and gender earnings gap in Eastern Europe," The Economics of Transition, The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, vol. 23(3), pages 517-564, July.
    3. Orlowski, Robert & Riphahn, Regina T., 2008. "The East German Wage Structure after Transition," IZA Discussion Papers 3861, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    4. Alena Bičáková, 2016. "Gender unemployment gaps in the EU: blame the family," IZA Journal of European Labor Studies, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 5(1), pages 1-31, December.
    5. Beblo, Miriam & Heinze, Anja & Wolf, Elke, 2008. "Entwicklung der beruflichen Segregation von Männern und Frauen zwischen 1996 und 2005 : eine Bestandsaufnahme auf betrieblicher Ebene (Occupational segregation of men and women between 1996 and 2005 :," Zeitschrift für ArbeitsmarktForschung - Journal for Labour Market Research, Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany], vol. 41(2/3), pages 181-198.
    6. Beblo, Miriam & Heinze, Anja & Wolf, Elke, 2008. "Entwicklung der beruflichen Segregation von Männern und Frauen zwischen 1996 und 2005 : eine Bestandsaufnahme auf betrieblicher Ebene (Occupational segregation of men and women between 1996 and 2005 :," Zeitschrift für ArbeitsmarktForschung - Journal for Labour Market Research, Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany], vol. 41(2/3), pages 181-198.
    7. Nikolas Mittag, 2015. "A Simple Method to Estimate Large Fixed Effects Models Applied to Wage Determinants and Matching," CERGE-EI Working Papers wp532, The Center for Economic Research and Graduate Education - Economics Institute, Prague.
    8. Mittag, Nikolas, 2016. "A Simple Method to Estimate Large Fixed Effects Models Applied to Wage Determinants and Matching," IZA Discussion Papers 10447, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    9. Solange Berstein & Andrea Tokman, 2005. "Income Gap by Gender: Perpetuated or Exacerbated when Old?," Working Papers Central Bank of Chile 334, Central Bank of Chile.
    10. Robert Orlowski & Regina T. Riphahn, 2009. "Im Osten nichts Neues – Lohnstrukturen knapp 20 Jahre nach dem Mauerfall," ifo Dresden berichtet, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, vol. 16(03), pages 24-27, June.
    11. Andrén, Daniela & Andrén, Thomas, 2007. "Occupational Gender Composition and Wages in Romania: From Planned Equality to Market Inequality?," IZA Discussion Papers 3152, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    12. Alena Bièáková & Jiøí Slaèálek & Michal Slavík, 2011. "Labor Supply after Transition: Evidence from the Czech Republic," Czech Journal of Economics and Finance (Finance a uver), Charles University Prague, Faculty of Social Sciences, vol. 61(4), pages 327-347, August.
    13. Emmler, Julian & Fitzenberger, Bernd, 2020. "The role of unemployment and job change when estimating the returns to migration," IAB-Discussion Paper 202037, Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany].
    14. Robert Orlowski & Regina T. Riphahn, 2009. "The East German wage structure after transition1," The Economics of Transition, The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, vol. 17(4), pages 629-659, October.
    15. Jurajda, Stepán & Paligorova, Teodora, 2009. "Czech female managers and their wages," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 16(3), pages 342-351, June.
    16. Emmler, Julian & Fitzenberger, Bernd, 2020. "The Role of Unemployment and Job Change When Estimating the Returns to Migration," IZA Discussion Papers 13740, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    17. Solange Berstein & Andrea Tokman, 2005. "Brechas de ingreso entre géneros: ¿Perpetuadas o exacerbadas en la vejez?," Working Papers 8, Superintendencia de Pensiones, revised Jul 2005.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Occupational segregation; Gender wage gap; Transition;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
    • J21 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Labor Force and Employment, Size, and Structure
    • J71 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor Discrimination - - - Hiring and Firing

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