TY  - JOUR
AU  - Blau,Francine D.
TI  - The Gender Pay Gap
JF  - National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series
VL  - No. 5664
PY  - 1996
Y2  - July 1996
UR  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w5664
L1  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w5664.pdf
N1  - Author contact info:
Francine D. Blau
ILR School
Cornell University
268 Ives Hall
Ithaca, New York 14853-3901
Tel: 607/255-4381
Fax: 607/255-4496
E-Mail: fdb4@cornell.edu
AB  - Empirical research on gender pay gaps has traditionally focused on the role of gender-specific factors, particularly gender differences in qualifications and differences in the treatment of otherwise equally qualified male and female workers (i.e., labor market discrimination).  This paper explores the determinants of the gender pay gap and argues for the importance of an additional factor, wage structure, the array of prices set for labor market skills and the rewards received for employment in favored sectors.  Drawing on joint work with Lawrence Kahn, I illustrate the impact of wage structure by presenting empirical results analyzing its effect on international differences in the gender gap and trends over time in the gender differential in the U.S.
ER  -