Job Assignment and the Gender Wage Differential: Theory and Evidence on Finnish Metalworkers

Juhana Vartiainen
Additional contact information
Juhana Vartiainen: Trade Union Institute for Economic Research, Postal: Wallingatan 38, SE-111 24 Stockholm, Sweden

No 149, Working Paper Series from Trade Union Institute for Economic Research

Abstract: We study the determinants of the gender wage differential by using a data set on Finnish blue-collar metalworkers. The assignment of men and women into jobs of different complexity is a key factor that widens the final wage differential. Using the theory of optimal job assignment, we propose a model of individual productivity, ability and job complexity and formulate a hypothesis of asymmetric assignment according to which men and women of equal ability are allocated to different job levels. Using econometric panel data techniques, we find support for this hypothesis. The results are consistent with the Lazear-Rosen model of job ladders but can alternatively be interpreted as evidence for gender discrimination in job assignment.

Keywords: Wage Differentials; Labor-Management Relations; Discrimination (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J31 J50 J71 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 24 pages
Date: 1999-04-01
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-lab
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
http://swopec.hhs.se/fiefwp/papers/WP149.pdf (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hhs:fiefwp:0149

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in Working Paper Series from Trade Union Institute for Economic Research Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sune Karlsson ().