A distribution-sensitive examination of the gender wage gap in Germany

Ekaterina Selezneva () and Philippe Van Kerm
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Ekaterina Selezneva: Institut for East and Southeast European Studies
Authors registered in the RePEc Author Service: Ekaterina Skoglund

The Journal of Economic Inequality, 2016, vol. 14, issue 1, No 2, 40 pages

Abstract: Abstract This paper provides a new examination of the gender pay gap for Germany based on a family of distribution-sensitive indicators. Wage distributions for men and women do not only differ by a fixed constant; differences are more complex. We show that focusing on the bottom of the wage distribution reveals a larger gender gap. Our distribution-sensitive analysis can also be used to study whether the statistical disadvantage of women in average pay might be ‘offset’ by lower inequality. Over a broad range of plausible preferences over inequality, we show however that ‘inequality-adjusted’ estimates of the gap can be up to three times higher than standard inequality-neutral measures in Eastern Germany and up to fifty percent higher in Western Germany. Using preference parameters elicited from a hypothetical risky investment question in our sample, inequality-adjusted gender gap measures turn out to be close to those upper bounds.

Keywords: Gender gap; Wage differentials; Wage inequality; Expected utility; Risk aversion; East and West Germany; SOEP; Singh-Maddala distribution; Copula-based selection model (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (12)

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DOI: 10.1007/s10888-016-9320-z

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