Working Paper: CEPR ID: DP4045
Authors: Amanda Gosling
Abstract: This Paper attempts to reconcile two apparently contradictory trends in the UK labour market over the 1980s and 1990s. While wage differentials based on observed skill have risen for men, wage differentials between men and women have fallen. If women earn less than men because they are less skilled, then one would expect differences across genders to follow the same trends as differences across skills. The simplest explanation of the data is that the labour market has become more competitive, resulting in a fall in discrimination and an increase in the return to skill. As this explanation is not directly and easily testable, this Paper examines its plausibility by assessing other explanations for these results.
Keywords: male-female wage differentials; wage inequality
JEL Codes: J30; J70
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| wage differentials based on observed skill (J31) | increased wage inequality for men (J31) |
| labor market frictions and institutional changes (J29) | influence wage structures (J31) |
| decline of union power and legal reforms (J58) | increase in female relative earnings (J31) |
| endogeneity of education (I25) | impact on estimating wage returns (J31) |
| unobserved ability (D29) | impact on wage differentials (J31) |