Geschlechtsspezifische Lohnunterschiede (Gender-specific wage differentials)

"The paper gives an overview of the literature on the theory, methodology and empirical knowledge of gender-specific wage differentials. The spectrum of the theoretical considerations comprises observed and unobserved differences in structure as well as differences in the rates of return of income-relevant factors. Methodological approaches for breaking down into these components as well as the discussion of econometric problems are subjects of the following report. The presentation of the empirical results focuses on Germany. This survey is supplemented by some new empirical findings. The matter here is to determine the significance of paid and unpaid overtime for the wage differentials between men and women. Furthermore, analyses are carried out to find out to what extent the use of computers at home and at work is relevant for the income, whether the wage gap between men and women is affected, and whether it may possibly vary within the income distribution between high and low incomes. It is proven that the use of computers in working life contributes to closing the gender-specific wage gap. In contrast, men generally benefit more from overtime. They achieve higher rates of return. This results in a tendency to widen the wage gap. It is true that over time a systematic reduction of the wage gap can be observed with regard to the differences in structure. However, this is not the case for unobserved influences and rates of return." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))