Gender Segregation in the Labor Market: Comparative Perspectives and Welfare State Challenges

A larger share of women than men work in low pay establishments. Segregation across establishments thus adds to the gender wage gap (see eg Barth and Mastekaasa 1996, Neumark et al 2005). Our conjecture is also that women work to a larger extent in establishments with less steep career ladders. In this comparative sub-project we will study how gender segregation across establishments occurs, to what extent it depends on choices at the household level and what it means for the gender wage gap. The process of job-to-job mobility is crucial for the understanding of gender segregation across establishments. We will focus on three interconnected mechanisms. The first is the elasticity of job-to-job change with respect to wages. Previous research suggests that women’s job changes are less wage elastic than men’s job changes, providing a rationale for monopsonistic discrimination. The second is the role of characteristics of the spouse’s job, for instance to what extent the spouse holds a “career” job, and the third is the role of children for careers and mobility. Our model combines elements of the monopsonistic model in Barth et. al. and of the framework by Albanesi and Olivetti (2009) which explores the feedback between firm-worker contractual relationship and household’s decision making. Empirically, we utilize linked employer employee data, matched with survey data at the household level, from the Current Population Survey data in the US, and administrative register data from Norway (Employer-employee register with individual, employer and household identifiers).