Changes in Returns to Task-Specific Skills and Gender Wage Gap

Shintaro Yamaguchi

Department of Economics Working Papers from McMaster University

Abstract: How did skilled-biased technological change affect wage inequality, particularly between men and women? To answer that question this paper constructs a task-based Roy model in which workers possess a bundle of basic skills, and occupations are characterized as a bundle of basic tasks. The model is structurally estimated using the task data from the Dictionary of Occupational Titles and the PSID. The main empirical finding is that men have more motor skills than women, but the returns to motor skills have dropped significantly, accounting for more than 40% of the narrowing gender wage gap.

Keywords: Roy model; task-based approach; occupational choice; skill-biased technological change; soft skills. (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J24 J31 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 53 pages
Date: 2013-01
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-lma
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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Working Paper: Changes in Returns to Task-Specific Skills and Gender Wage Gap (2013)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:mcm:deptwp:2013-01

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