Selection, Heterogeneity and the Gender Wage Gap

Cecilia Machado

No 7005, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Abstract: Selection correction methods usually make assumptions about selection itself. In the case of gender wage gap estimation, those assumptions are specially tenuous because of high female non-participation and because selection could be different in different parts of the labor market. This paper proposes an estimator for the wage gap that allows for arbitrary heterogeneity in selection. It applies to the subpopulation of "always employed" women, which is similar to men in labor force attachment. Using CPS data from 1976 to 2005, I show that the gap has narrowed substantially from a -.521 to a -.263 log wage points differential for this population.

Keywords: gender wage gap; selection (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J16 J24 J31 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 64 pages
Date: 2012-11
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-dem, nep-lab and nep-lma
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (17)

Published - published as 'Unobserved selection heterogeneity and the gender wage gap' in: Journal of Applied Econometrics, 2017, 32 (7), 1348 - 1366

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