Regulation Distance, Labor Segmentation, and Gender Gaps

Abstract

Existing theories on human capital, labor market segmentation, and discrimination fail to fully explain gender gaps—for example, the large gender gap in elite occupations where women apparently possess high labor market power. This chapter seeks a more complete, occupation-related understanding, through the interaction between labor segmentation, regulation content, and regulation distance, the last referring to the extent to which employment of particular workers is (un)regulated. Regulation distance encompasses a continuum from “regulation proximity” to “market proximity.” The domestic sphere, the state, unions, and class relations all influence the content of regulation. Each of these also influences norms by which groups in power operate. A greater reliance on the “market” does not necessarily remove pay distortions; rather, it might increase their impact through gendered norms.