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How wide is the gap? An investigation of gender wage differences using quantile regression

  • Jaume García
  • Pedro J. Hernández
  • Angel López-Nicolás
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Part of the Studies in Empirical Economics book series (STUDEMP)

Abstract

In this paper we re-examine the link between subjective perceptions and objective measures of wage discrimination by estimating the mean and several quantiles in the conditional wage distribution of men and women in order to decompose the gender wage gap into the part attributed to different characteristics and the part attributable to differential returns to these characteristics at points other than the conditional expectation. In the process we take into account the endogeneity of educational choice and the participation decision of women. The results suggest that the absolute wage gap and the component of the latter that can be attributed to different returns to characteristics increase over the wage scale.

Key words

wage differentials quantile regression 
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Copyright information

© Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2002

Authors and Affiliations

  • Jaume García
    • 1
  • Pedro J. Hernández
    • 2
  • Angel López-Nicolás
    • 1
  1. 1.Departament d’Economia i EmpresaUniversitat Pompeu FabraBarcelonaSpain
  2. 2.Departamento de Fundamentos del Análisis Económico. Facultad de Economía y EmpresaCampus de Espinardo. Universidad de MurciaMurciaSpain

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