The Gender Pay Gap in German Manufacturing: How Exporters Drive Wage Equality Trends

Riccarda Rosenball ()
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Riccarda Rosenball: University of Graz, Austria

No 2025-08, Graz Economics Papers from University of Graz, Department of Economics

Abstract: This study examines the gender pay gap in West Germany's manufacturing sector using linked employer-employee data. The gender pay gap has nearly halved for exporting firms since 1993 - a decline that is much smaller for non-exporting firms. Long-term exporters employ a large share of the workforce and drive trends across the entire sector. Some of the largest exporting industries, such as vehicle manufacturing, show the lowest gender pay gaps. I show that the decline in the gender pay gap of exporters is driven by the increasing representation of women in high-paying positions. Tracking the gender pay gap over the first 10 to 15 years of employees' careers reveals that this decline is largely due to a growing share of highly educated women in the workforce, along with stronger opportunities for career advancement for women. Providing women with early career advancement opportunities is key to breaking the glass ceiling and reducing persistent gender pay disparities.

Keywords: Gender Pay Gap; Exporting Firms; Linked Employer-Employee Data (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: F16 J16 J70 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025-06
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-gen, nep-hrm and nep-lma
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