THE FEMALE/MALE SALARY DIFFERENTIAL IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS: SOME LESSONS FROM SAN FRANCISCO, 1879

This paper develops a theory of sex differences in the earnings of school personnel, with emphasis on the role of labor market segmentation. Several aspects of the theory are then tested using data for the San Francisco school system in 1879. We find that, holding constant human capital variables (experience and education), sex played a significant role in determining the position and type of school of employment among school personnel and that human capital variables were less important than segmentation variables (position and type of school) in explaining the female/male salary differential .