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Is There a Double-Negative Effect? Gender and Ethnic Wage Differentials in Italy

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  • Daniela Piazzalunga

Abstract

This paper investigates the gender and ethnic wage differentials for female migrants in Italy by applying the Oaxaca–Blinder decomposition, with and without Heckman correction, to account for self-selection into the labour market. The gender wage gap is nearly 15 per cent, more than 60 per cent of which is unexplained by observable differences. The ethnic wage gap is much larger (39 per cent), but endowments explain 53 per cent of the gap. We also estimate the double-negative effect of being both female and a migrant. A female migrant earns 42 per cent less than an Italian male; the unexplained component is estimated to be 53–65 per cent. Results are robust to different specifications.

Suggested Citation

  • Daniela Piazzalunga, 2015. "Is There a Double-Negative Effect? Gender and Ethnic Wage Differentials in Italy," LABOUR, CEIS, vol. 29(3), pages 243-269, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:labour:v:29:y:2015:i:3:p:243-269
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    2. Daniela Piazzalunga & Maria Laura Di Tommaso, 2019. "The increase of the gender wage gap in Italy during the 2008-2012 economic crisis," The Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer;Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, vol. 17(2), pages 171-193, June.
    3. Lee, Taehoon & Peri, Giovanni & Viarengo, Martina, 2022. "The gender aspect of migrants’ assimilation in Europe," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    4. Töpfer, Marina & Castagnetti, Carolina & Rosti, Luisa, 2016. "Discriminate me - if you can! The Disappearance of the Gender Pay Gap among Public-Contest Selected Employees," VfS Annual Conference 2016 (Augsburg): Demographic Change 145905, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    5. Hellyer, Joshua & Hellriegel, Emily & Gereke, Johanna & Schunck, Reinhard, 2023. "Pretty unequal? Immigrant-native differences in returns to physical attractiveness in Germany," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 215(C), pages 107-119.
    6. Chiara Mussida & Maria Laura Parisi, 2018. "Immigrant groups’ income inequality within and across Italian regions," The Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer;Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, vol. 16(4), pages 655-671, December.
    7. Donghyun Kim & Up Lim, 2017. "Wage Differentials between Heat-Exposure Risk and No Heat-Exposure Risk Groups," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 14(7), pages 1-17, June.
    8. Elisa Barbiano di Belgiojoso & Eralba Cela & Stefania Maria Lorenza Rimoldi, 2022. "The Effect of Migration Experiences on Wellbeing Among Ageing Migrants in Italy," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 161(2), pages 553-579, June.
    9. D’Ambrosio, Anna & Leombruni, Roberto & Razzolini, Tiziano, 2017. "Native-Migrant Differences in Trading Off Wages and Workplace Safety," IZA Discussion Papers 10523, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
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    12. Carolina Castagnetti & Luisa Rosti & Marina Töpfer, 2020. "Discriminate me — If you can! The disappearance of the gender pay gap among public‐contest selected employees in Italy," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(6), pages 1040-1076, November.

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