Changes in Workplace Heterogeneity and How They Widen the Gender Wage Gap
- (pp. 74-113)
Abstract
Using linked employer-employee data for West Germany, I investigate the role of growing wage differentials between firms in the slowdown of gender wage convergence since the 1990s. The results show that two factors are at play: first, high-wage firms experience higher wage growth and employ disproportionately more men, and second, male firm premiums grow faster than female premiums in the same firms. These developments were catalyzed by a decline of union coverage, coupled with more firm-specific wage setting in collective bargaining agreements. Taken together, these conditions prevented the gender gap from narrowing by approximately 15 percent between the 1990s and 2000s.Citation
Bruns, Benjamin. 2019. "Changes in Workplace Heterogeneity and How They Widen the Gender Wage Gap." American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 11 (2): 74-113. DOI: 10.1257/app.20160664Additional Materials
JEL Classification
- J16 Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
- J31 Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials
- J51 Trade Unions: Objectives, Structure, and Effects
- J71 Labor Discrimination
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