From gender gaps in skills to gender gaps in wages: Evidence from PIAAC

Yolanda F. Rebollo-Sanz and Sara de la Rica ()
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Sara de la Rica: Department of Economics, Universidad del País Vasco;

No 20.09, Working Papers from Universidad Pablo de Olavide, Department of Economics

Abstract: Our paper makes the first attempt using a cross-national perspective, to address the impact of skills in the analysis of gender gaps in labor market performance. To that end we use the OECD´s PIAAC dataset, which contains information on OECD and non OECD economies. Firstly, we document that there are gender gaps in cognitive skills for numeracy, which are found to be around 3-4% and to increase with age. Next, we show that gender gaps in math skills are crucial to understanding a substantial proportion of the gender gaps observed in labor market outcomes. In particular, the higher math skills exhibited by males explain 45% of the gender gap in labor force participation for young workers and 29% for workers aged 30-39. Finally, gender differences in math skills help to explain 40% of the gender wage gap observed. That impact increases from entry age to 30-39 (motherhood age), as we find that math skills explain 44% of the gender wage gap observed for young workers and as much as 55% for workers aged 30-39. .

Keywords: gender wage gap; gender gap in labor force; cognitive skills; PIACC (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J16 J24 J31 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 37 pages
Date: 2020
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-gen
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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