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Decomposing the Male/Female Wage Gap: Within and Between Establishment Differences
Author(s) -
Barth Erling,
Mastekaasa Arne
Publication year - 1996
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.1467-9914.1996.tb00088.x
Subject(s) - differential (mechanical device) , wage , norwegian , male female , private sector , legislation , labour economics , economics , public sector , business , demographic economics , economic growth , political science , economy , engineering , law , linguistics , philosophy , aerospace engineering
Using Norwegian data from interviews with about 3,500 employees in 759 establishments, the male‐female wage differential is decomposed into its between and within establishment components. In the private sector, the gross wage differential of 23 percent is reduced to 13 by checking for human capital and job characteristics, and to 8 by (also) checking for industry and establishment affiliation. Only this within‐establishment differential will be affected by equal pay and comparable worth legislation. In the public sector the gross wage gap between men and women is smaller (17 percent). The inter‐establishment component is very small, probably due to centralized wage setting and standardized pay schemes. This has not, however, affected the within‐establishment differential which is as large as in the private sector.