Why do women earn more than men in some regions?: Explaining regional differences in the gender pay gap in Germany

Michaela Fuchs, Anja Rossen, Antje Weyh and Gabriele Wydra-Somaggio
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Antje Weyh: Institute for Employment Research (IAB), Nuremberg, Germany
Gabriele Wydra-Somaggio: Institute for Employment Research (IAB), Nuremberg, Germany

No 201911, IAB-Discussion Paper from Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany]

Abstract: "This paper provides first-time evidence on the magnitude and determinants of regional differences in the gender pay gap (GPG) in Germany. Using a comprehensive data set of all full-time employees, we conduct Oaxaca-Blinder decompositions for Germany and its regions to explain the regional variation of the GPG with theory-based individual, job-related and regional characteristics. Our results provide several novel insights into the regional dimension of the GPG. First, men's wages are more strongly correlated with the regional GPG than those of women, indicating that their wages drive the regional variation in the GPG much more than the wages of women. Second, the decomposition results reveal pronounced differences in the impact of the individual and job-related characteristics between the regions. Whereas job-related characteristics are important in regions with a high GPG, individual characteristics rather come into play in regions with a low or negative GPG. The results underscore the role played by the establishment composition in a region and the kind of jobs provided for the regional GPG. Women earn more than men in regions with a weak local economic structure and the absence of large firms providing well-paid manufacturing jobs. In regions with a high GPG, in contrast, men usually benefit from such jobs. The third result relates to the validity of the theoretical determinants of the GPG in regional respect. In contrast to the clear-cut decomposition results at the national level, at the regional level their validity mainly applies to specific subsets of regions. We conclude that analyses at the national level come too short in precisely explaining the regional variation of the GPG." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

Keywords: Bundesrepublik Deutschland; erwerbstätige Frauen; erwerbstätige Männer; geschlechtsspezifische Faktoren; Landkreis; Lohnunterschied; regionale Disparität; regionaler Vergleich; sozialversicherungspflichtige Arbeitnehmer; Vollzeitarbeit; Wirtschaftsstruktur (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J16 J31 R23 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 39 pages
Date: 2019-05-07
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-bec, nep-eur, nep-gen, nep-geo, nep-lab and nep-ure
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (12)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:iab:iabdpa:201911

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