Browsing by Subject "Gender pay gap"

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Detailed RIF decomposition with selection : the gender pay gap in Italy
(2017) Töpfer, Marina
In this paper, we estimate the gender pay gap along the wage distribution using a detailed decomposition approach based on unconditional quantile regressions. Non-randomness of the sample leads to biased and inconsistent estimates of the wage equation as well as of the components of the wage gap. Therefore, the method is extended to account for sample selection problems. The decomposition is conducted by using Italian microdata. Accounting for labor market selection may be particularly relevant for Italy given a comparably low female labor market participation rate. The results suggest not only differences in the income gap along the wage distribution (in particular glass ceiling), but also differences in the contribution of selection effects to the pay gap at different quantiles.
Overconfidence and gender differences in wage expectations
(2020) Satlukal, Sascha; Reuter, Mirjam; Pfeifer, Gregor; Osikominu, Aderonke; Briel, Stephanie
We analyze the impact of (over-)confidence on gender differences in expected start-ing salaries using elicited beliefs of prospective university students in Germany. According to our results, female students have lower wage expectations and are less overconfident than their male counterparts. Oaxaca-Blinder decompositions of the mean show that 7.7% of the gender gap in wage expectations is attributable to a higher overconfidence of males. Decompositions of the unconditional quantiles of expected salaries suggest that the contribution of gender differences in confidence to the gender gap is particularly strong at the bottom and top of the wage expectation distribution.
Recent developments in gender differences in pay
(2017) Töpfer, Marina; Beißinger, Thomas
Gender differences in pay continue to persist, despite decades of equal-pay legislation and the promotion of equal opportunities. This thesis examines differences in pay between men and women in Italy during the period 2005-2014 and puts special emphasis on the effects of sample selection. It decomposes the gender pay gap in different subsamples and identifies drivers of the gap that remained unobserved so far. In particular, it shows the empirical disappearance of the gender pay gap in Italy for public-contest recruited employees. It further reveals that the wage gap between men and women for overeducated workers is mainly explained by generally unobservable characteristics. From the methodological perspective, this work provides two novelties. First, it adds to the literature on quantile-regression approaches by adjusting the wage model based on unconditional quantile regression for sample selection. Second, an alternative estimation approach that builds on the omitted variable bias formula is proposed, in order to directly estimate the change of the gender pay gap and its components over time. The empirical part of this thesis is based on a large Italian data set (ISFOL PLUS 2005-2014). The case of Italy is particularly interesting for the study of gender differences in pay and gender-specific selection into wage work given low levels of the aggregate gender pay gap (approximately 6.0%) on the one hand, and high employment gaps between men and women (more than 20.0%) on the other hand.
The reversal of the gender pay gap among public-contestselected young employees
(2015) Töpfer, Marina; Castagnetti, Carolina; Rosti, Luisa
This paper analyzes the effect of public-contest recruitment on earnings by applying an extended version of the Oaxaca-Blinder model with double selection to microdata on Italy. We find that the gender pay gap vanishes among public-contest selected employees, and even reverses in favor of women (-17.4%) in the young sample. The reversal is because public contests are merit-based and gender-fair screening devices. They are merit-based because selected employees possess higher productive characteristics than unselected ones, both women and men. They are gender-fair because the coefficients component in the Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition is never significant among public-contest recruited employees, either with or without selection. On the contrary, among employees not hired by public contest the gender pay gap is positive and significant (7.6%), and it is entirely due to coefficients, that is to discrimination in the career path.