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The Public-Private Sector Pay Differential in Greece

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  • Evangelia Papapetrou

    (University of Athens and Economic Research Department, Bank of Greece)

Abstract

This article examines the earnings differential between the public and private sectors pay in Greece employing quantile regression analysis and using micro data. The results suggest that average earnings are higher in the public sector than in the private sector for both genders but earnings in the public sector show a smaller dispersion with respect to the private sector. The findings indicate that employees in the public sector at the lower end of the earnings distribution earn a higher wage gap compared with their counterparts in the private sector but this gap decreases at higher quantiles. In addition, quantile regression estimation reveals that the earnings differences in the low quantiles are mainly attributed to the unobserved characteristics and partly to the differences in endowment. By contrast, in the highest quantiles the differences in earnings between sectors for both genders are mainly attributed to the observed differences in the endowment characteristics.

Suggested Citation

  • Evangelia Papapetrou, 2006. "The Public-Private Sector Pay Differential in Greece," Public Finance Review, , vol. 34(4), pages 450-473, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:pubfin:v:34:y:2006:i:4:p:450-473
    DOI: 10.1177/1091142106288998
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    Cited by:

    1. Shahen, Mostafa E. & Kotani, Koji & Kakinaka, Makoto & Managi, Shunsuke, 2020. "Wage and labor mobility between public, formal private and informal private sectors in a developing country," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 101-113.
    2. Sarantis LOLOS & Evangelia PAPAPETROU, 2012. "Unemployment disparities and persistence Assessing the evidence from Greek regions, 1981-2008," Regional and Sectoral Economic Studies, Euro-American Association of Economic Development, vol. 12(1), pages 69-90.
    3. Bakas, Dimitrios & Papapetrou, Evangelia, 2014. "Unemployment in Greece: Evidence from Greek regions using panel unit root tests," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 54(4), pages 551-562.
    4. Sotiris Theodoropoulos, 2012. "Seeking a sustainable size and structure for the Greek public sector’s activities according to the fiscal pact for Euro," SPOUDAI Journal of Economics and Business, SPOUDAI Journal of Economics and Business, University of Piraeus, vol. 62(3-4), pages 75-92, July - De.
    5. Domenico Depalo & Raffaela Giordano & Evangelia Papapetrou, 2015. "Public–private wage differentials in euro-area countries: evidence from quantile decomposition analysis," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 49(3), pages 985-1015, November.
    6. Neil Foster-McGregor & Sebastian Leitner & Sandra M. Leitner & Johannes Pöschl & Robert Stehrer, 2014. "Earnings Distributions and Dimensions of Inequality," wiiw Research Reports 399, The Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies, wiiw.
    7. Vassiliki Koutsogeorgopoulou & Manos Matsaganis & Chrysa Leventi & Jan-David Schneider, 2014. "Fairly Sharing the Social Impact of the Crisis in Greece," OECD Economics Department Working Papers 1106, OECD Publishing.
    8. Jelena Lausev, 2014. "WHAT HAS 20 YEARS OF PUBLIC–PRIVATE PAY GAP LITERATURE TOLD US? EASTERN EUROPEAN TRANSITIONING vs. DEVELOPED ECONOMIES," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(3), pages 516-550, July.
    9. Hospido, Laura & Moral-Benito, Enrique, 2016. "The public sector wage premium in Spain: Evidence from longitudinal administrative data," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 101-122.
    10. Raffaela Giordano & Manuel Coutinho Pereira & Domenico Depalo & Bruno Eugène & Evangelia Papapetrou & Javier J. Pérez & Lukas Reiss & Mojca Roter, 2014. "The Public Sector Pay Gap in a Selection of Euro Area Countries in the Pre-crisis Period," Hacienda Pública Española / Review of Public Economics, IEF, vol. 214(3), pages 11-34, September.
    11. Rebekka Christopoulou & Vassilis Monastiriotis, 2014. "The Greek Public Sector Wage Premium before the Crisis: Size, Selection and Relative Valuation of Characteristics," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 52(3), pages 579-602, September.

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