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Gender Wage Differentials in Italy: A Structural Estimation Approach

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Abstract

This paper studies gender wage differentials in Italy by providing a structural estimation of the frictional parameters of two different theoretical specifications of an equilibrium search model. I alternatively allow for firm heterogeneity and discrimination empirically using maximum likelihood and matching first moments in the data. Results indicate substantial differences in transition parameters with higher level of search frictions for women. The mapping from productivity to wages for men is highly non linear, with high productivity firms offering proportionally higher wages; for women, the relationships is almost linear. Including discrimination, I find that productivity accounts for 61% of the wage offer differential, search for 28% and 11% is the part of discrimination.

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  • Giovanni Sulis, 2008. "Gender Wage Differentials in Italy: A Structural Estimation Approach," LABORatorio R. Revelli Working Papers Series 74, LABORatorio R. Revelli, Centre for Employment Studies.
    • Handle: RePEc:cca:wplabo:74
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    Cited by:

    1. Giovanni Sulis, 2011. "What can monopsony explain of the gender wage differential in Italy?," International Journal of Manpower, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 32(4), pages 446-470, July.
    2. Katie Meara & Francesco Pastore & Allan Webster, 2020. "The gender pay gap in the USA: a matching study," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 33(1), pages 271-305, January.
    3. d'Agostino, Giorgio & Patriarca, Fabrizio & Pieroni, Luca & Scarlato, Margherita, 2020. "The perverse effects of hiring credits as a place-based policy: Evidence from Southern Italy," MPRA Paper 102240, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    4. Manuela Deidda & Adriana Di Liberto & Marta Foddi & Giovanni Sulis, 2015. "Employment subsidies, informal economy and women’s transition into work in a depressed area: evidence from a matching approach," IZA Journal of Labor Policy, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 4(1), pages 1-25, December.
    5. Caliendo, Marco & Lee, Wang-Sheng & Mahlstedt, Robert, 2017. "The gender wage gap and the role of reservation wages: New evidence for unemployed workers," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 136(C), pages 161-173.
    6. Marilena Furno, 2020. "Returns to Education and Gender Wage Gap Across Quantiles in Italy," Central European Journal of Economic Modelling and Econometrics, Central European Journal of Economic Modelling and Econometrics, vol. 12(2), pages 145-169, June.
    7. Alexander S. Kritikos & Mika Maliranta & Veera Nippala & Satu Nurmi, 2024. "Does gender of firm ownership matter? Female entrepreneurs and the gender pay gap," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 37(2), pages 1-31, June.
    8. Marcela Perticará & Mauricio Tejada, 2022. "Sources of gender wage gaps for skilled workers in Latin American countries," The Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer;Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, vol. 20(2), pages 439-463, June.
    9. Marilena Furno, 2014. "Returns to education and gender gap," International Review of Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 28(5), pages 628-649, September.

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    Keywords

    Gender Wage Differentials; Equilibrium Search; Discrimination; Structural Estimation; Italy.;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials
    • J41 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Particular Labor Markets - - - Labor Contracts

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