Male–Female Labour Market Participation and Wage Differentials in Greece

This paper is an empirical study of the development of labour market participation and wage differentials between males and females in Greece between 1988 and 1994. There is little known about the position of women in the Greek labour market. This paper uses survey data generated by the Greek National Statistical Service. The decision to engage in paid employment and the resulting remuneration are studied using selectivity–corrected earnings estimations. Oaxaca and Ransom decompositions and counterfactual analysis show that the adverse treatment of female labour market participation is the largest identifiable reason why the wage gap is there and why it increased between 1988 and 1994.     

The Impact of Worker and Establishment‐level Characteristics on Male–Female Wage Differentials: Evidence from Danish Matched Employee–Employer Data

Abstract. This paper uses matched employer–employee data from Denmark to examine how gender segregation at the level of occupation, industry, establishment, and job‐cell impacts the gender wage differential of full‐time, private‐sector salaried and manual workers. Wage effects of gender segregation at the above four levels are estimated through fixed effects or through controls for the proportion females within these structures. We find that occupation has a much larger role than industry or establishment in accounting for the gender gap for salaried but not manual workers, and that for both groups there is a significant within‐job‐cell gender wage differential.     

The Distribution of the German Public–Private Wage Gap

This paper provides a distributional analysis of the public–private sector wage gap in Germany from 1984 to 1996. The public sector wage distribution is generally less dispersed than the private sector wage distribution. The raw wage differential is positive for males who are at the lower tail of the male wage distribution and negative at the upper tail. In contrast, females enjoy positive wage gaps along most part of the wage distribution. A decomposition analysis reveals that the male wage premium, i.e. the part of the wage gap not accounted for by differences in observable characteristics, is uniformly negative, whereas the female wage premium is positive.     

Decomposing the Male/Female Wage Gap: Within and Between Establishment Differences

ABSTRACT: Using Norwegian data from interviews with about 3,500 employees in 759 establishments, the male-female wage differential is decomposed into its between and within establishment components. In the private sector, the gross wage differential of 23 percent is reduced to 13 by checking for human capital and job characteristics, and to 8 by (also) checking for industry and establishment affiliation. Only this within-establishment differential will be affected by equal pay and comparable worth legislation. In the public sector the gross wage gap between men and women is smaller (17 percent). The inter-establishment component is very small, probably due to centralized wage setting and standardized pay schemes. This has not, however, affected the within-establishment differential which is as large as in the private sector.     

The Effect of Demand–Supply Mismatches on Firm Risk

A supply chain management (SCM) system comprises many subsystems, including forecasting, order management, supplier management, procurement, production planning and control, warehousing and distribution, and product development. Demand–supply mismatches (DSMs) could indicate that some or all of these subsystems are not working as expected, creating uncertainties about the overall capabilities and effectiveness of the SCM system, which can increase firm risk. This article documents the effect of DSMs on firm risk as measured by equity volatility. Our sample consists of three different types of DSMs announced by publicly traded firms: production disruptions, excess inventory, and product introduction delays. We find that all three types of DSMs result in equity volatility increases. Over a 2‐year period around the announcement date, we observe mean abnormal equity volatility increases of 5.62% for production disruptions, 11.19% for excess inventory, and 6.28% for product introduction delays. Volatility increases associated with excess inventory are significantly higher than the increases associated with production disruptions and product introduction delays. Across all three types of DSMs, volatility changes are positively correlated with changes in information asymmetry. The results provide some support that volatility changes are also correlated with changes in financial and operating leverage.     

Labour Market Institutions and the Gender Wage Gap in Britain and Australia, 1973–90

The importance of wage structure is frequently interpreted as indirect evidence of the role played by labour market institutions. The current paper follows in this tradition, examining the role of wage structure in explaining the trend in the gender wage gap over the period 1973–91 for both Australia and the UK. The focus is upon whether changes in wage structure (and associated gender wage gap) both across country and over time are compatible with institutional explanations. Combining comparisons both cross‐country and over time yields a more stringent, albeit indirect, test of the role of institutions.     

The Wage Gap in Manufacturing in Germany: Size and Determinants

Wages in Germany are usually fixed in a two-step process. Firstly, unions and employers' associations negotiate wage agreements at industry level. Secondly, the sectoral wage is modified at establishment level according to the demands of management, works councils and individual employees. Since contract wages are minimum standards, the modifications may only favour the employees. A positive wage gap appears. The paper aims to analyse this second step of wage fixing. Data on the size of the wage gap are presented, determinants of the gap are discussed theoretically and, finally, the hypotheses are tested by regression analysis.     

The Effect of Temporary Agency Workers on Wage of Permanent Employees: Evidence From Linked Employer‐Employee Data

The effect of flexibility at‐the‐margin on wage of permanent employees is evaluated using Italian Linked Employer‐Employee Data for the period 1991–2004. Temporary Agency Workers (TAW) introduced in Italy in 1997 in some specific industries represents a form of flexible job providing a quasi‐experimental setup that can be used to obtain identification by applying difference‐in‐differences. Concerns related to confounding trends are addressed through several robustness and falsification tests. Norms introducing TAW in all sectors in 2000 are also exploited. Results show an increase in permanent employees’ wage in industries involved in the reform. This evidence is consistent with insider‐outsider theories wherein — in a dual labor market — a rise in the share of unprotected employees may spill over upon insiders’ wage.     

Wage Flexibility for Skilled and Unskilled Workers: New Evidence on the Norwegian Wage Curve

Empirical evidence is provided in favour of a hypothesis that wages for unskilled workers are more responsive to unemployment than wages for skilled workers. The results imply vigorous wage responsiveness to low levels of unemployment for both groups, while the wage curves become almost entirely flat for unemployment rates above 1.7 percent. One interpretation of this result is that firms have strong incentives to increase wages in order to recruit and retain workers when unemployment is below some critical level. Since unemployed workers will certainly find work, the expected costs of a job loss are small, as are costs associated with an egalitarian wage policy.     

The Gender Wage Gap: A Study of Paid Work in Cyprus

The gender wage gap in paid employment was studied using data from the 1991 Survey of Household Expenditure and Income for Cyprus, a country which aspires to join the European Union. Selection from a sample which includes more than paid employees was taken into account. It was found that average weekly wages for women are about 60 percent of those for men. Approximately 60 percent of the observed gender gap can be explained by differences in average characteristics but much of this explanation includes the results of industry and occupation choices, and opportunities in these populations.     

The Motherhood Wage Penalty and Its Determinants: A Public–Private Comparison

We investigate whether public and private sector employees bear a different wage penalty for having children. According to our estimates, the total motherhood wage penalty is much larger in the private than in the public sector. Nevertheless, in both sectors, we find no unexplained penalty once we control for potential determinants of the family pay gap, namely, a reduced labour supply of mothers, child‐related career interruptions, less access to management positions, and adjustments in working conditions. Finally, only child‐related career interruptions play a different role in explaining the motherhood wage penalty in each sector.     

Employability of Young Italian Men after a Jobless Period, 1989–98

In this paper we investigate the existence of negative jobless duration dependence and the impact of jobless spells on future wages. Our findings are somewhat out of line compared with analogous explorations. We find evidence of very long unemployment duration of the young male labor force, higher than reported anywhere else in Western Europe, as well as large negative unemployment duration dependence. On the other hand, young Italian men experiencing jobless periods in their early careers face small re‐employment wage losses. Such losses do increase with the duration of joblessness, but they are lower than reported in the USA, Canada, the UK, France, and Spain.     

Insolvency Proceedings and Workers’Rights: the Italian Case

ABSTRACT: In this paper the author analyses different types of insolvency proceedings in the context of the Italian legal system, focusing on the possible effects of bankruptcy law on employment relationships. The concept of‘privileged workers’claims is discussed, taking into account their rank of preference as stated by statutory law and according to the interpretations offered by jurisprudence. One section is expressly devoted to the recent legislation providing a Guarantee Fund for severance allowance claims in case of insolvency, but also in the event of mere nonpayment by the employer. After having covered the concept of 'super-privileged claims', the paper discusses more widely possible forms of protecting workers in a situation of company crisis and links between social legislation on the one hand, and bankruptcy law on the other. Finally, the author emphasizes the more effective protection now offered by the Italian legal system to workers’claims, although the trade unions have considerable difficulty in keeping the workforce united when insolvency proceedings are opened.     

The Early‐career Gender Wage Gap among University Graduates in the Finnish Private Sector

In the Finnish private sector, the gender wage gap increases significantly during the first 10 years after labour market entry, accounting for most of the lifetime increase in the gender wage differentials. This paper investigates the reasons for this gender difference in early‐career wage development. By focusing on university graduates the paper considers several explanations based on the human capital theory, job mobility, and labour market segregation. The results suggest that only about 20–26 per cent of the average early‐career gender wage gap is explained by gender differences in experience, the field of education, employer characteristics, and mobility. A substantial unexplained gap thus remains. Of the investigated factors gender differences in the field of education and work experience matter most.     

中国城镇职工性别工资差距的演变

本文利用1995年、2002年和2007年中国居民收入调查数据,分析了城镇工资的性别差距的演变特点和影响因素。本文的研究发现,在1995~2007年期间特别是2002~2007年期间工资的性别差距显著扩大,其中不可解释部分的比例也越来越大,显示了性别歧视的严重化问题。特别是年纪轻、学历低、职业差、行业差的女性职工在劳动力市场中受到更为严重的歧视,导致了低收入群体性别工资差距的迅速扩大。基于这些发现,本文认为在经济改革和城镇市场劳动力供求关系发生变化的背景下,女性职工所受到的冲击和面临的劳动力市场歧视问题是值得关注的。     

The Effects of Gain Sharing on the Basic Wage: The Case of IMPROSHARE

Although gain-sharing plans are typically promoted to workers as a way of increasing total compensation, workers are often concerned that gain-sharing bonuses may become substitutes for future wage increases that would have occurred in the absence of the plan. I examine the theoretical and empirical interaction among wages, bonuses, effort, and productivity in firms that implemented IMPROSHARE, a well-known gain-sharing plan. Using longitudinal data obtained from a detailed survey questionnaire, I find that one can usually reject both the perfectly competitive model in which effort is held constant (in which case bonuses are a perfect substitute for wages) and the “pure gravy” model (in which bonuses completely complement the wage rate). There is no evidence that higher bonuses lead to higher relative wages. The results, however, are not very robust. Although the net effect of the bonuses on the wage rate is usually negative, it is not always statistically significant.     

Testing for Independence of Wage Drift and Minimum Contractual Wage: An Empirical Investigation Using Italian Aggregate Time Series

A theoretical two-stage bargaining model for wage drift and minimum contractual wage is discussed and its implication in terms of Granger-causality between the two variables is tested by using Italian aggregate time series. Empirical evidence suggests rejecting the independence of the two series. This result has, in turn, implications for policy analysis. Our findings seem to indicate the appropriateness of a policy oriented towards decentralized wage setting.     

Ranking Nuclear and Radiological Terrorism Scenarios: The Italian Case

A quantitative criterion for ranking the different scenarios of nuclear and radiological terrorism has been developed. The aim of the model is not to predict terroristic events but only to indicate which scenario has the higher utility from the point of view of a terroristic organization in terms of balance between factors favoring and discouraging the attack, respectively. All these factors were quantified according to a scoring system that takes into account the logarithmic relationship between perceptions and stimuli. The criterion was applied to several scenarios, each of which was modeled in a simple but not trivial way in order to estimate the expected damage in terms of probable life losses from both radiative and nonradiative effects. The outcome from the ranking method indicates that the attractive scenario appears to be the detonation of a low yield improvised nuclear device in the metropolitan area of a major city.