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The Economics of Equal Value
Author(s) -
Rubery Jill
Publication year - 1993
Publication title -
labour
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.403
H-Index - 34
eISSN - 1467-9914
pISSN - 1121-7081
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-9914.1993.tb00209.x
Subject(s) - earnings , labour economics , economics , value (mathematics) , discretion , poverty , market value , argument (complex analysis) , grading (engineering) , wage , independence (probability theory) , scope (computer science) , political science , law , accounting , economic growth , biochemistry , chemistry , civil engineering , engineering , machine learning , computer science , statistics , mathematics , programming language
Equal pay for work of equal value has come to be seen as the policy most likely to reduce the gender earnings gap. This paper explores the theoretical basis for widespread undervaluation of women's work and argues that institutionalised discrimination in the labour market also affects internal pay and grading structures. Recent recognition of the scope for discretion in pay determination undermines the “market forces” argument against equal value. The current wage structure reflects an outdated model of social and family organisation. Much poverty is now the result of women seeking economic independence in a market which rewards them as subordinate family members. However, the main obstacles to equal value lie in labour market institutions. The increasing fragmentation of pay bargaining and moves to performance‐related pay will reduce rather than promote the relationship between pay and job content.