The gender wage gap and the role of policy: Analyzing patterns over time, over the life cycle and across the wage distribution

• Applicants: Professor Dr. Peter Haan; Professorin Dr. Katharina Wrohlich
• Subject Area: Economic Policy, Applied Economics
• Term: from 2018 to 2023
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 416447477

• Final Report Year: 2024

Final Report Abstract

The gender wage gap is a persistent and pervasive phenomenon observable in virtually all countries. It has strong implications for a society since it is one main driver of inequality in a country. Therefore, there exists an active public debate and an important academic literature that describes and quantifies the gender wage gap, analyses the reasons for this gap and discusses potential policy reforms to reduce the gender wage gap. In this research project, we aim to extend this literature and to contribute to the policy debate in several dimensions. For the analyses we use different data sources from Germany and empirical methods to analyze how the gender gaps evolve over time and are affected by policies. First, we show that selection into the labor market affects wages by men and women – however even when accounting for selection the gender wage is strong and persistent. We show that this holds when using different econometric techniques. Second, we show that the gender wage gap is strongly related to part-time employment of women. This has strong implications for promotions. Finally, we analyze which public polies could reduce the gender wage gap. Here we focus on gender quota for high-level management, parental leave policies and short-time work.

Publications

• Selection Into Employment and the Gender Wage Gap Across the Distribution and Over Time. SSRN Electronic Journal.
  Gallego-Granados, Patricia & Wrohlich, Katharina
  
• Gender Gaps in Employment, Working Hours and Wages in Germany: Trends and Developments Over the Last 35 Years. CESifo Forum 23 (2), 17-19.
  Ilieva, Boryana & Katharina Wrohlich
  
• Gender Pay Gap ist in den letzten 30 Jahren fast nur bei Jüngeren gesunken. DIW Wochenbericht Nr 9/2022, S. 149-154.
  Schrenker, Annekatrin & Katharina Wrohlich
  
• Gender Care Gap and Gender Pay Gap Increase Substantially until Middle Age, DIW Weekly Report 9/2023, 83-88. also available in German (“Gender Pay Gap und Gender Care Gap steigen bis zur Mitte des Lebens stark an; DIW Wochenbericht Nr. 9/2023, S.99-105)
  Schäper, Clara, Annekatrin Schrenker & Katharina Wrohlich
  
• Parental Leave Policy and Long-run Earnings of Mothers. Labour Economics, 80, 102296.
  Frodermann, Corinna; Wrohlich, Katharina & Zucco, Aline
  
• Promotion Prospects and Within-level Wage Growth: A Decomposition of the Part-time Penalty for Women, in Ilieva Boryana: Essays on Labor Economics, Dynamic Decision Making, and the Role of Gender, Dissertation HU Berlin
  Ilieva, Boryana
  
• Selection effects and the distribution of the gender wage gap: A novel approach, in Ilieva Boryana: Essays on Labor Economics, Dynamic Decision Making, and the Role of Gender, Dissertation HU Berlin
  Breunig, Christoph, Peter Haan & Boryana Ilieva
  
• Women in Management and the Gender Pay Gap. DIW Discussion Paper 2046.
  Sondergeld, Virginia & Katharina Wrohlich
  
• Gender Pay Gap in einem Betrieb sinkt mit mehr Frauen in Führungspositionen, DIW Wochenbericht Nr. 3/2024, S. 38-43.
  Sondergeld, Virginia & Katharina Wrohlich
  
• The gender gap in fair earnings increases with age due to higher age premium for men. The British Journal of Sociology, 76(1), 180-187.
  Adriaans, Jule; Sauer, Carsten & Wrohlich, Katharina