IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/oup/cambje/v39y2015i2p467-496..html
   My bibliography  Save this article

From wage regulation to wage gap: how wage-setting institutions and structures shape the gender wage gap across three industries in 24 European countries and Germany

Author

Listed:
  • Andrea Schäfer
  • Karin Gottschall

Abstract

Whilst a common and persisting feature of advanced market economies, the gender wage gap nevertheless varies across countries. Amongst the factors affecting this wage gap, industrial relations and industry differences still require further research. Using data from EU-SILC in 25 European countries, this article analyses how national wage-setting institutions impact wage differences between male and female full-time employees in three distinct industries. Complementing the country comparison is an in-depth study of the German case using data from the German Linked Employer-Employee Database, shedding light on the interaction of industry-specific wage-setting regulations and gender equity in living wages. Findings from the international comparison suggest a substantial gender wage gap for full-time employees across industries with specific country patterns. Country patterns seem to be due to the overall influence of trade unions and the relationship between pay bargaining strategies and specific minimum wage policies. The German case adds to these findings by analysing the impact of sectoral models of wage bargaining for industry-specific gender wage gaps, focussing on living wages for skilled full-time employees.

Suggested Citation

  • Andrea Schäfer & Karin Gottschall, 2015. "From wage regulation to wage gap: how wage-setting institutions and structures shape the gender wage gap across three industries in 24 European countries and Germany," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 39(2), pages 467-496.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:cambje:v:39:y:2015:i:2:p:467-496.
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1093/cje/bev005
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Yusuf Emre Akgunduz & Janneke Plantenga, 2013. "Labour market effects of parental leave in Europe," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 37(4), pages 845-862.
    2. Philip Du Caju & Erwan Gautier & Daphne Momferatu & Melanie Ward-Warmedinger, 2009. "Institutional Features of Wage Bargaining in 23 European Countries, the US and Japan," Ekonomia, Cyprus Economic Society and University of Cyprus, vol. 12(2), pages 57-108, Winter.
    3. Philip Du Caju & Gábor Kátay & Ana Lamo & Daphne Nicolitsas & Steven Poelhekke, 2010. "Inter-Industry Wage Differentials In EU Countries: What Do Cross-Country Time Varying Data Add to the Picture?," Journal of the European Economic Association, MIT Press, vol. 8(2-3), pages 478-486, 04-05.
    4. Louis Christofides & Maria Michael, 2013. "Exploring the public-private sector wage gap in European countries," IZA Journal of European Labor Studies, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 2(1), pages 1-53, December.
    5. Dex, Shirley & Sutherland, Holly & Joshi, Heather, 2000. "Effects of Minimum Wages on the Gender Pay Gap," National Institute Economic Review, National Institute of Economic and Social Research, vol. 173, pages 80-88, July.
    6. John Addison & Paulino Teixeira & Katalin Evers & Lutz Bellmann, 2012. "Is the Erosion Thesis Overblown? Evidence from the Orientation of Uncovered Employers," GEMF Working Papers 2012-07, GEMF, Faculty of Economics, University of Coimbra.
    7. Christofides, Louis N. & Polycarpou, Alexandros & Vrachimis, Konstantinos, 2013. "Gender wage gaps, ‘sticky floors’ and ‘glass ceilings’ in Europe," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 21(C), pages 86-102.
    8. Francine D. Blau & Lawrence M. Kahn, 2003. "Understanding International Differences in the Gender Pay Gap," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 21(1), pages 106-144, January.
    9. Alison L. Booth & Marco Francesconi, 2003. "Union coverage and non-standard work in Britain," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 55(3), pages 383-416, July.
    10. Blau, Francine D., 2016. "Gender, Inequality, and Wages," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780198779971 edited by Gielen, Anne C. & Zimmermann, Klaus F..
    11. L. Bryan, Mark & P. Jenkins, Stephen, 2013. "Regression analysis of country effects using multilevel data: a cautionary tale," ISER Working Paper Series 2013-14, Institute for Social and Economic Research.
    12. Engel, Melissa & Schaffner, Sandra, 2012. "How to Use the EU-SILC Panel to Analyse Monthly and Hourly Wages," Ruhr Economic Papers 390, RWI - Leibniz-Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, Ruhr-University Bochum, TU Dortmund University, University of Duisburg-Essen.
    13. Wiji Arulampalam & Alison L. Booth & Mark L. Bryan, 2007. "Is There a Glass Ceiling over Europe? Exploring the Gender Pay Gap across the Wage Distribution," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 60(2), pages 163-186, January.
    14. Colella, Fabrizio, 2014. "Women's Part-Time - Full-Time Wage Differentials in Europe: an Endogenous Switching Model," MPRA Paper 55287, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    15. repec:sae:niesru:v:173:y::i:1:p:80-88 is not listed on IDEAS
    16. Elena Bardasi & Janet Gornick, 2008. "Working for less? Women's part-time wage penalties across countries," Feminist Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 14(1), pages 37-72.
    17. Karl Brenke & Markus M. Grabka, 2011. "Schwache Lohnentwicklung im letzten Jahrzehnt," DIW Wochenbericht, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research, vol. 78(45), pages 3-15.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Aleksandra Parteka & Joanna Wolszczak-Derlacz, 2020. "Wage response to global production links: evidence for workers from 28 European countries (2005–2014)," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 156(4), pages 769-801, November.
    2. David Brady & Thomas Biegert, 2017. "The Rise of Precarious Employment in Germany," SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research 936, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).
    3. Ines P. Murillo Huertas & Raul Ramos & Hipolito Simon, 2017. "Regional Differences in the Gender Wage Gap in Spain," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 134(3), pages 981-1008, December.
    4. Sabina Szymczak & Aleksandra Parteka & Joanna Wolszczak-Derlacz, 2019. "Position In Global Value Chains: The Impact On Wages In Central And Eastern European Countries," GUT FME Working Paper Series A 53, Faculty of Management and Economics, Gdansk University of Technology, revised Jan 2022.
    5. Maitre, Bertrand & McGuinness, Seamus & Redmond, Paul, 2017. "A study of minimum wage employment in Ireland: The role of worker, household and job characteristics," Research Series, Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI), number BKMNEXT332.
    6. Dagmara Nikulin & Joanna Wolszczak-Derlacz & Aleksandra Parteka, 2022. "Working Conditions in Global Value Chains: Evidence for European Employees," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 36(4), pages 701-721, August.
    7. Ji Young Kang, 2021. "Institutions and the gender wage gap: How production and welfare regime moderates the effect of family policy," International Journal of Social Welfare, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 30(1), pages 46-57, January.
    8. Eleonora Matteazzi & Stefani Scherer, 2021. "Gender Wage Gap and the Involvement of Partners in Household Work," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 35(3), pages 490-508, June.
    9. Aleksandra Parteka & Sabina Szymczak & Joanna Wolszczak-Derlacz, 2017. "Gender Wage Gap Convergence and Skills Heterogeneity in Poland (2005–2014) – Quantile Regression Analysis Based on Microdata from EU SILC," Collegium of Economic Analysis Annals, Warsaw School of Economics, Collegium of Economic Analysis, issue 47, pages 129-142.
    10. Katzkowicz, Sharon & Pedetti, Gabriela & Querejeta, Martina & Bergolo, Marcelo, 2021. "Low-skilled workers and the effects of minimum wage in a developing country: Evidence based on a density-discontinuity approach," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 139(C).
    11. José-Ignacio Antón & Rafael Grande & Rafael Muñoz de Bustillo & Fernando Pinto, 2023. "Gender Gaps in Working Conditions," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 166(1), pages 53-83, February.
    12. Sabina Szymczak & Aleksandra Parteka & Joanna Wolszczak-Derlacz, 2022. "Position in global value chains and wages in Central and Eastern European countries," European Journal of Industrial Relations, , vol. 28(2), pages 211-230, June.
    13. Lara Minkus, 2019. "Labor Market Closure and the Stalling of the Gender Pay Gap," SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research 1049, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).
    14. Sylvia Walby, 2018. "Is Europe Cascading into Fascism? Addressing Key Concepts including Gender and Violence," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 6(3), pages 67-77.
    15. MA, Xinxin & CHENG, Jie, 2023. "The Impact of Trade Unions on the Gender Wage Gap : Evidence from China," Discussion Paper Series 752, Institute of Economic Research, Hitotsubashi University.
    16. Feicht, Robert & Grimm, Veronika & Rau, Holger A. & Stephan, Gesine, 2017. "On the impact of quotas and decision rules in collective bargaining," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 100(C), pages 175-192.
    17. David Brady & Thomas Biegert, 2017. "The Rise of Precarious Employment in Germany," LIS Working papers 708, LIS Cross-National Data Center in Luxembourg.

    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. Gallego Granados, Patricia & Wrohlich, Katharina, 2019. "Selection into Employment and the Gender Wage Gap across the Distribution and over Time," IZA Discussion Papers 12859, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    2. Christofides, Louis N. & Polycarpou, Alexandros & Vrachimis, Konstantinos, 2013. "Gender wage gaps, ‘sticky floors’ and ‘glass ceilings’ in Europe," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 21(C), pages 86-102.
    3. Joanna Tyrowicz & Lucas van der Velde, 2017. "When the opportunity knocks: large structural shocks and gender wage gaps," GRAPE Working Papers 2, GRAPE Group for Research in Applied Economics.
    4. Collischon Matthias, 2019. "Is There a Glass Ceiling over Germany?," German Economic Review, De Gruyter, vol. 20(4), pages 329-359, December.
    5. Arceo-Gómez, Eva O. & Campos-Vázquez, Raymundo M., 2014. "Evolución de la brecha salarial de género en México," El Trimestre Económico, Fondo de Cultura Económica, vol. 0(323), pages .619-653, julio-sep.
    6. Ramskogler, Paul & Riedl, Aleksandra & Schoiswohl, Florian, 2020. "Swinging female labor demand – How the public sector influences gender wage gaps in Europe," Department of Economics Working Paper Series 302, WU Vienna University of Economics and Business.
    7. Antonczyk, Dirk & Fitzenberger, Bernd & Sommerfeld, Katrin, 2010. "Rising wage inequality, the decline of collective bargaining, and the gender wage gap," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 17(5), pages 835-847, October.
    8. Francesconi, Marco & Parey, Matthias, 2018. "Early gender gaps among university graduates," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 109(C), pages 63-82.
    9. repec:prg:jnlpep:v:preprint:id:684:p:1-19 is not listed on IDEAS
    10. Elass, Kenza, 2024. "Male and female selection effects on gender wage gaps in three countries," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 87(C).
    11. Uwe Jirjahn & Jens Mohrenweiser, 2021. "Works councils and organizational gender policies in Germany," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 59(4), pages 1020-1048, December.
    12. Busch, Anne & Holst, Elke, 2011. "Gender-Specific Occupational Segregation, Glass Ceiling Effects, and Earnings in Managerial Positions: Results of a Fixed Effects Model," IZA Discussion Papers 5448, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    13. Kenza Elass, 2022. "The multiple dimensions of selection into employment," French Stata Users' Group Meetings 2022 06, Stata Users Group.
    14. Christofides, Louis N. & Polycarpou, Alexandros & Vrachimis, Konstantinos, 2010. "The Gender Wage Gaps, 'Sticky Floors' and 'Glass Ceilings' of the European Union," IZA Discussion Papers 5044, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    15. Veronika Hedija, 2018. "Is the Rule of Law Significant for Explanation of Differences in the Gender Pay Gap?," Prague Economic Papers, Prague University of Economics and Business, vol. 2018(6), pages 704-722.
    16. Kenza Elass, 2022. "The multiple dimensions of selection into employment," AMSE Working Papers 2219, Aix-Marseille School of Economics, France.
    17. Patricia Gallego-Granados & Johannes Geyer, 2015. "Distributional and Behavioral Effects of the Gender Wage Gap," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 1469, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
    18. Hasan Tekgüç & Değer Eryar & Dilek Cindoğlu, 2017. "Women’s Tertiary Education Masks the Gender Wage Gap in Turkey," Journal of Labor Research, Springer, vol. 38(3), pages 360-386, September.
    19. Gallego Granados, Patricia & Geyer, Johannes, 2014. "From Gross Wages to Net Household Income: a Distributional Analysis of the Gender Wage Gap," VfS Annual Conference 2014 (Hamburg): Evidence-based Economic Policy 100492, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    20. Ines P. Murillo Huertas & Raul Ramos & Hipolito Simon, 2017. "Regional Differences in the Gender Wage Gap in Spain," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 134(3), pages 981-1008, December.
    21. Kenza Elass, 2022. "The multiple dimensions of selection into employment," Working Papers hal-03788508, HAL.

    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:oup:cambje:v:39:y:2015:i:2:p:467-496.. 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: Oxford University Press (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://academic.oup.com/cje .

    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.