IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/gender/v29y2022i2p486-501.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Egalitarian inequality: Gender equality and pattern bargaining

Author

Listed:
  • Ines Wagner
  • Mari Teigen

Abstract

This article analyzes the role of the collective wage‐setting institution of “pattern bargaining” in maintaining the gendered hierarchies of the labor market and gender pay gap in Norway. The gendered labor market is considered a main cause of the gender pay gap, yet current research and policy has not examined the relation of the gender pay gap to the way sectoral wages are set. Norway is an interesting case because its wage‐setting model and gender equality are highly esteemed globally. However, although the wage‐setting system in Norway creates an overall more egalitarian wage structure than other advanced industrial countries, it has a built‐in gendered inequality that is not part of its current discussion on resolving the gender pay gap. We introduce egalitarian inequality to conceptualize this. The article examines the presentation of the gender pay gap in relation to the gendered labor market, and how the pattern bargaining model is presented as both a solution and a hindrance, and which discourse dominates. We analyze the public discourse on the gender pay gap and the pattern‐bargaining model, and its interrelations, through the lens of policy advisory commissions appointed by the government, the Norwegian Official Commissions. The findings reveal a dual commitment of upholding both pattern bargaining and gender equality but hardly any willingness to adjust the pattern bargaining model to combat the gender pay gap. A clear hierarchy is expressed in which gender equality is subordinate to pattern bargaining.

Suggested Citation

  • Ines Wagner & Mari Teigen, 2022. "Egalitarian inequality: Gender equality and pattern bargaining," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(2), pages 486-501, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:gender:v:29:y:2022:i:2:p:486-501
    DOI: 10.1111/gwao.12774
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/gwao.12774
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/gwao.12774?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Susan Hayter & Bradley Weinberg, 2011. "Mind the Gap: Collective Bargaining and Wage Inequality," Chapters, in: Susan Hayter (ed.), The Role of Collective Bargaining in the Global Economy, chapter 6, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    2. Judy Wajcman, 2000. "Feminism Facing Industrial Relations in Britain," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 38(2), pages 183-201, June.
    3. Alex Bryson, 2014. "It's Where You Work: Increases in Earnings Dispersion across Establishments and Individuals in the U.S," National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR) Discussion Papers 436, National Institute of Economic and Social Research.
    4. Paula Koskinen Sandberg, 2017. "Intertwining Gender Inequalities and Gender‐neutral Legitimacy in Job Evaluation and Performance‐related Pay," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(2), pages 156-170, March.
    5. Trevor Colling & Linda Dickens, 1998. "Selling the Case for Gender Equality: Deregulation and Equality Bargaining," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 36(3), pages 389-411, September.
    6. Tricia Dawson, 2014. "Collective Bargaining and the Gender Pay Gap in the Printing Industry," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 21(5), pages 381-394, September.
    7. Paula Koskinen Sandberg & Milja Saari, 2019. "Sisters (can’t) unite! Wages as macro‐political and the gendered power orders of corporatism," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(5), pages 633-649, June.
    8. Johan Christensen & Cathrine Holst, 2017. "Advisory commissions, academic expertise and democratic legitimacy: the case of Norway," Science and Public Policy, Oxford University Press, vol. 44(6), pages 821-833.
    9. Rubery, Jill. & Johnson, Mathew., 2019. "Closing the gender pay gap what role for trade unions?," ILO Working Papers 995068193202676, International Labour Organization.
    10. Josefina Erikson, 2021. "A special fund for gender equality? Institutional constraints and gendered consequences in Swedish collective bargaining," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(4), pages 1379-1397, July.
    11. Franz Traxler & Bernd Brandl, 2012. "Collective Bargaining, Inter‐Sectoral Heterogeneity and Competitiveness: A Cross‐National Comparison of Macroeconomic Performance," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 50(1), pages 73-98, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Veronika Lemeire & Patrizia Zanoni, 2022. "Beyond methodological nationalism in explanations of gender equality: The impact of EU policies on gender provisions in national collective agreements in Belgium (1957–2020)," European Journal of Industrial Relations, , vol. 28(1), pages 47-64, March.
    2. Laust Høgedahl & Christian Lyhne Ibsen & Flemming Ibsen, 2024. "Public sector wage bargaining and the balanced growth model: Denmark and Sweden compared," European Journal of Industrial Relations, , vol. 30(1), pages 55-75, March.
    3. Josefina Erikson, 2021. "A special fund for gender equality? Institutional constraints and gendered consequences in Swedish collective bargaining," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(4), pages 1379-1397, July.
    4. Paula Koskinen Sandberg & Maria Törnroos & Roosa Kohvakka, 2018. "The Institutionalised Undervaluation of Women’s Work: The Case of Local Government Sector Collective Agreements," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 32(4), pages 707-725, August.
    5. Jae Song & David J Price & Fatih Guvenen & Nicholas Bloom & Till von Wachter, 2019. "Firming Up Inequality," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 134(1), pages 1-50.
    6. Canton, César G., 2012. "Empowering People in the Business Frontline: The Ruggie’s Framework and the Capability Approach," management revue - Socio-Economic Studies, Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft mbH & Co. KG, vol. 23(2), pages 191-216.
    7. James Spletzer & Elizabeth Weber Handwerker, 2015. "The Role of Establishments and the Concentration of Occupations in Wage Inequality," Working Papers id:7427, eSocialSciences.
    8. Núria Sánchez-Mira & Raquel Serrano Olivares & Pilar Carrasquer Oto, 2022. "What slips through the cracks: The distance between regulations and practices shaping the gender pay gap," Economic and Industrial Democracy, Department of Economic History, Uppsala University, Sweden, vol. 43(2), pages 536-558, May.
    9. Nieminen, Mika & Heimonen, Kari & Tohmo, Timo, 2017. "Current accounts and coordination of wage bargaining," BOFIT Discussion Papers 20/2017, Bank of Finland Institute for Emerging Economies (BOFIT).
    10. Stefan Bender & Nicholas Bloom & David Card & John Van Reenen & Stefanie Wolter, 2018. "Management Practices, Workforce Selection, and Productivity," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 36(S1), pages 371-409.
    11. David Card & Ana Rute Cardoso & Joerg Heining & Patrick Kline, 2018. "Firms and Labor Market Inequality: Evidence and Some Theory," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 36(S1), pages 13-70.
    12. Raven Molloy & Christopher L. Smith & Abigail Wozniak, 2013. "Declining Migration wihin the US: The Role of the Labor Market," Working Papers 13-53, Center for Economic Studies, U.S. Census Bureau.
    13. Gabriella Alberti & Davide Però, 2018. "Migrating Industrial Relations: Migrant Workers’ Initiative Within and Outside Trade Unions," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 56(4), pages 693-715, December.
    14. Sanjay K. Chugh & Christian Merkl, 2016. "Efficiency And Labor Market Dynamics In A Model Of Labor Selection," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 57(4), pages 1371-1404, November.
    15. Dragos Adascalitei & Sameer Khatiwada & Miguel Á. Malo & Pignatti Moran, 2015. "Employment protection and collective bargaining during the great recession: a comprehensive review of international evidence," Revista de Economía Laboral - Spanish Journal of Labour Economics, Asociación Española de Economía Laboral - AEET, vol. 12, pages 50-87.
    16. Patrick McGovern & Diego Alburez-Gutierrez, 2017. "Who takes workplace case-study methods seriously? The influence of gender, academic rank and PhD training," Industrial Relations Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 48(2), pages 98-114, March.
    17. Drydakis, Nick & Sidiropoulou, Katerina & Patnaik, Swetketu & Selmanovic, Sandra & Bozani, Vasiliki, 2017. "Masculine vs Feminine Personality Traits and Women's Employment Outcomes in Britain: A Field Experiment," IZA Discussion Papers 11179, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    18. Erica L. Groshen & Harry J. Holzer, 2021. "Labor Market Trends and Outcomes: What Has Changed since the Great Recession?," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 695(1), pages 49-69, May.
    19. Matt Marx, 2018. "Punctuated Entrepreneurship (Among Women)," Working Papers 18-26, Center for Economic Studies, U.S. Census Bureau.
    20. Annette Bernhardt & Rosemary Batt & Susan Houseman & Eileen Appelbaum, 2016. "Working Paper: Domestic Outsourcing in the United States: A Research Agenda to Assess Trends and Effects on Job Quality," CEPR Reports and Issue Briefs 2016-03, Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR).

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:gender:v:29:y:2022:i:2:p:486-501. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/journal.asp?ref=0968-6673 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.