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How wide is the gap? An investigation of gender wage differences using quantile regression

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Abstract

In this paper we examine the determinants of wages and decompose the observed differences across genders into the "explained by different characteristics" and "explained by different returns components" using a sample of Spanish workers. Apart from the conditional expectation of wages, we estimate the conditional quantile functions for men and women and find that both the absolute wage gap and the part attributed to different returns at each of the quantiles, far from being well represented by their counterparts at the mean, are greater as we move up in the wage range.

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  • Jaume Garcia & Pedro J. Hernández & Ángel López Nicolás, 1998. "How wide is the gap? An investigation of gender wage differences using quantile regression," Economics Working Papers 287, Department of Economics and Business, Universitat Pompeu Fabra.
    • Handle: RePEc:upf:upfgen:287
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Gender wage gap; quantile regression; education;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C14 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric and Statistical Methods and Methodology: General - - - Semiparametric and Nonparametric Methods: General
    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials

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