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Evidence on the glass ceiling effect in France using matched worker-firm data

Author

Listed:
  • Mohamed Jellal

    (UM5 - Université Mohammed V de Rabat [Agdal])

  • Christophe Jalil Nordman

    (LEDA-DIAL - Développement, Institutions et Modialisation - LEDa - Laboratoire d'Economie de Dauphine - IRD - Institut de Recherche pour le Développement - Université Paris Dauphine-PSL - PSL - Université Paris Sciences et Lettres - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique)

  • Francois-Charles Wolff

    (IEMN-IAE Nantes - Institut d'Économie et de Management de Nantes - Institut d'Administration des Entreprises - Nantes - UN - Université de Nantes)

Abstract

In this paper, we investigate the relevance of the glass ceiling hypothesis in France, according to which there exist larger gender wage gaps at the upper tail of the wage distribution. Using a matched worker-firm data set of about 130,000 employees and 14,000 employers, we estimate quantile regressions and rely on a principal component analysis to summarize information specific to the firms. Our different results show that accounting for firm-related characteristics reduces the gender earnings gap at the top of the distribution, but the latter still remains much higher at the top than at the bottom. Furthermore, a quantile decomposition shows that the gender wage gap is mainly due to differences in the returns to observed characteristics rather than in differences in characteristics between men and women.

Suggested Citation

  • Mohamed Jellal & Christophe Jalil Nordman & Francois-Charles Wolff, 2008. "Evidence on the glass ceiling effect in France using matched worker-firm data," Post-Print hal-00582039, HAL.
    • Handle: RePEc:hal:journl:hal-00582039
    DOI: 10.1080/00036840600994070
    Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://hal.science/hal-00582039v1
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    References listed on IDEAS

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