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Equal Employment Opportunity Law and the gender wage gap in Japan: A cohort analysis

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  • Abe, Yukiko

Abstract

In this article, I perform a cohort-based analysis of the female-to-male wage gap using aggregate data in Japan from 1975 to 2005. While the inter-cohort closing in the gender wage gap is apparent, the convergence is smaller when the gap is calculated for each level of education. This pattern suggests that a certain portion of the gender wage convergence is due to changes in the educational composition of the workforce. I find that educational composition changes played a larger role in closing the pay gap for younger cohorts than it did for older cohorts. Highly educated women who entered the labor market after the enactment of the Equal Employment Opportunity Law gained in that they had more regular full-time employment but did not experience wage gains relative to their male counterparts.

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  • Abe, Yukiko, 2010. "Equal Employment Opportunity Law and the gender wage gap in Japan: A cohort analysis," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 21(2), pages 142-155, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:asieco:v:21:y:2010:i:2:p:142-155
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    Cited by:

    1. Molina, Teresa & Usui, Emiko, 2022. "Female Labor Market Opportunities and Gender Gaps in Aspirations," IZA Discussion Papers 15453, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    2. Yoichi Arai & Hidehiko Ichimura & Daiji Kawaguchi, 2014. "The educational upgrading of Japanese youth, 1982-2007: Are Japanese youth ready for structural reforms?," Working Papers e078, Tokyo Center for Economic Research.
    3. Nobuko Nagase & Mary C. Brinton, 2017. "The gender division of labor and second births: Labor market institutions and fertility in Japan," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 36(11), pages 339-370.
    4. Kato, Takao & Kodama, Naomi, 2015. "Work-Life Balance Practices, Performance-Related Pay, and Gender Equality in the Workplace: Evidence from Japan," IZA Discussion Papers 9379, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    5. Arai, Yoichi & Ichimura, Hidehiko & Kawaguchi, Daiji, 2015. "The educational upgrading of Japanese youth, 1982–2007: Are all Japanese youth ready for structural reforms?," Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, Elsevier, vol. 37(C), pages 100-126.
    6. Kato, Takao & Kodama, Naomi, 2014. "Labor Market Deregulation and Female Employment: Evidence from a Natural Experiment in Japan," IZA Discussion Papers 8189, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    7. Abe, Yukiko, 2011. "The Equal Employment Opportunity Law and labor force behavior of women in Japan," Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, Elsevier, vol. 25(1), pages 39-55, March.
    8. Georg D. BLIND & Stefania LOTTANTI VON MANDACH, 2015. "Decades not Lost, but Won: Increased Employment, Higher Wages, and More Equal Opportunities in the Japanese Labour Market," Social Science Japan Journal, University of Tokyo and Oxford University Press, vol. 18(1), pages 63-88.
    9. Masahiro Endoh, 2016. "The Effect of Offshoring on Skill Premiums: Evidence from Japanese Matched Worker-Firm Data," Keio-IES Discussion Paper Series 2016-005, Institute for Economics Studies, Keio University.
    10. Takao Kato & Naomi Kodama, 2018. "The Effect of Corporate Social Responsibility on Gender Diversity in the Workplace: Econometric Evidence from Japan," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 56(1), pages 99-127, March.
    11. Jacqueline Mosomi, 2019. "Distributional changes in the gender wage gap in the post-apartheid South African labour market," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2019-17, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    12. Onozuka, Yuki, 2016. "The gender wage gap and sample selection in Japan," Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 53-72.
    13. KATO Takao & KODAMA Naomi, 2016. "Corporate Social Responsibility and Gender Diversity in the Workplace: Evidence from Japan," Discussion papers 16063, Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI).
    14. Linda N. Edwards & Takuya Hasebe & Tadashi Sakai, 2019. "Education and Marriage Decisions of Japanese Women and the Role of the Equal Employment Opportunity Act," Journal of Human Capital, University of Chicago Press, vol. 13(2), pages 260-292.
    15. Nobuko Nagase, 2018. "Has Abe's Womanomics Worked?," Asian Economic Policy Review, Japan Center for Economic Research, vol. 13(1), pages 68-101, January.
    16. KAWAGUCHI Daiji & OWAN Hideo & TAKAHASHI Kazuteru, 2016. "Working Hours, Promotion, and Gender Gaps in the Workplace," Discussion papers 16060, Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI).
    17. Hirao, Tomotaka & Igawa, Shizue & Okajima, Yuko, 2023. "Determinants of Satisfaction with Work-Life Balance: A Case Study of a Medium-Sized Japanese Company," SocArXiv qgd6y, Center for Open Science.
    18. Hiroyuki Okamuro & Kenta Ikeuchi, 2012. "Work-Life Balance and Gender Differences in Self-Employment Income during the Start-up Stage in Japan," Global COE Hi-Stat Discussion Paper Series gd12-260, Institute of Economic Research, Hitotsubashi University.
    19. Endoh, Masahiro, 2021. "Offshoring and working hours adjustments in a within-firm labor market," Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, Elsevier, vol. 60(C).
    20. repec:eti:dpaper:13038 is not listed on IDEAS
    21. Kamal, Mustafa & Blacklow, Paul, 2021. "Australian age, period, cohort effects in the gender wage gap - 2001 to 2018," Working Papers 2021-02, University of Tasmania, Tasmanian School of Business and Economics.
    22. Hara, Hiromi, 2018. "The gender wage gap across the wage distribution in Japan: Within- and between-establishment effects," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 213-229.
    23. Molina, Teresa & Usui, Emiko, 2023. "Female labor market conditions and gender gaps in aspirations," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 211(C), pages 165-187.

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