Interindustry wage differentials and the gender wage gap.

Using data from the March 1988 Current Population Survey, the authors find that the wages of female workers differ significantly by industry, even when the analysis controls for workers' productivity-related characteristics. Although these interindustry wage differentials are at least as large as m...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Industrial & Labor Relations Review Vol. 49; pp. 105 - 121
Main Authors: Fields, Judith, Wolf, Edward N.
Format: Article
Published: Cornell University October 1995
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Online Access:View this record in EBSCOhost
Description
Summary:Using data from the March 1988 Current Population Survey, the authors find that the wages of female workers differ significantly by industry, even when the analysis controls for workers' productivity-related characteristics. Although these interindustry wage differentials are at least as large as men's and are highly correlated with them as well, there are statistically significant differences between the two. Of the overall gender wage gap (the average female worker earns about 65% as much as the average male worker), 12-22% can be explained by differences between the patterns of interindustry wage differentials of men and women and 15-19% by differences in the distribution of male and female workers across industries. Thus, the combined industry effects explain about one-third of the overall gender wage gap. Reprinted by permission of the publisher.