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Article
Publication date: 30 October 2009

Katherin Barg and Miriam Beblo

Empirical research has unambiguously shown that married men receive higher wages than unmarried, whereas a wage premium for cohabiters is not as evident yet. This paper aims to…

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Abstract

Purpose

Empirical research has unambiguously shown that married men receive higher wages than unmarried, whereas a wage premium for cohabiters is not as evident yet. This paper aims to exploit the observed difference between the marital and the cohabiting wage premium in Germany to draw conclusions about the sources, typically explained by specialisation (e.g. husbands being more productive because their wives take over household chores) or selection (high earnings potentials being more attractive on the marriage market).

Design/methodology/approach

The paper analyzes the cohabiting and the marital wage premium in Germany using a shifting panel design for marriages and move‐ins from 1993 to 2004 in the German Socio‐Economic Panel. With non‐parametric matching models men who get married (treatment group I) are matched with cohabiting respectively single men (control groups) and men who move in with a partner (treatment group II) with singles.

Findings

Matching reveals that higher wages are mostly due to positive selection – into marriage as well as into cohabitation. Supplementary analysis of intra‐household time use suggests that specialization, if any, is part of the selection process from single to cohabitation to marriage.

Originality/value

This is the first application of non‐parametric matching in a comparative study of the marital and the cohabiting wage premium and thus provides new insights into their respective sources. It is also the first investigation of family‐status‐related wage premiums in Germany.

Details

Journal of Economic Studies, vol. 36 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0144-3585

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Article
Publication date: 7 October 2013

Dorothea Alewell

The purpose of the paper is to analyse the influence of individual gender role specifications on objective career success (measured by gross yearly income) in the context of…

1589

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of the paper is to analyse the influence of individual gender role specifications on objective career success (measured by gross yearly income) in the context of different gender job contexts whilst controlling for human capital and working time variables. Typical economic, sociological and psychological variables are combined to improve explanations of the gender wage gap.

Design/methodology/approach

Starting from Eagly and Karau's role incongruity theory, the paper derives hypotheses on the influence of gender role specification, gender job context and biological sex on gross yearly income. These hypotheses are analysed by logistic regressions with a data set from Germany. The paper presents results of a quantitative empirical survey of employees on wages, gender role-related self-descriptions and human capital variables.

Findings

The paper results show that even in this highly qualified sample, male biological sex, masculine gender roles and non-female job context have a positive effect on individual income. The results hold true when the paper controls for human capital, working time, professional experience and jobs in the public sector.

Research limitations/implications

Because of the limited size of the data set and some problems with selectivity, the research results lack generalizability. Researchers are thus encouraged to test the propositions with other data sets.

Practical implications

The paper includes implications for wage design and for reaching wage equality in firms. An important implication for policy and practice is that under a gender and equal opportunity perspective, ensuring non-discriminating behaviour with regard to women may be only one (albeit an important) element of equal opportunity activities. Equal wage policies should further consider the gender characteristics of the job context, which may influence job-related roles and thus role incongruities. Additionally, individual interpretations of gender roles might have effects on wages. Human resource (HR) managers could support such policies by shaping job descriptions carefully with regard to gender role aspects, by influencing the gender composition of job contexts and by paying attention to the individual development of gender role interpretations in HR development programmes.

Originality/value

The paper fulfils an identified research need to study simultaneously the influence of human capital variables and gender roles on wages. To the authors' knowledge, this is the first study, which studies the influence of gender roles as defined by Born (1992) on income in a German context of highly qualified individuals while controlling for human capital, working time and professional experience. The existing lack in the literature with regard to empirical analyses on the combined influence of economic, sociological and psychological variables is mitigated.

Details

Evidence-based HRM: a Global Forum for Empirical Scholarship, vol. 1 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2049-3983

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Article
Publication date: 3 May 2016

Clemens Ohlert

The purpose of this paper is to examine the role wage dispersion across establishments has played in recent increases in total wage inequality in Germany and compares it to…

550

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the role wage dispersion across establishments has played in recent increases in total wage inequality in Germany and compares it to inequality changes at the individual level. It is queried whether the contribution of establishment heterogeneity to the rise of wage inequality stems from changes of institutional settings or from structures such as establishment size and the composition of the workforce.

Design/methodology/approach

Applying regression-based decompositions of variance to German linked employer-employee panel data for the years 2000-2010 it is analysed to what extent changes associated to firm structures contribute to the rise of total wage inequality.

Findings

Results show that the rise in wage inequality in Germany to a great extent is associated to rising wage variance across establishments, implying that establishment specific wage premiums have grown. By further decomposing across firm components of wage inequality, it is found that changes in across establishment wage inequality related to collective bargaining, worker co-determination and internal labour markets together account for about 3 per cent of the rise in total inequality. Inequality changes related to establishments’ skill and occupational composition account for about 11 per cent and establishment size alone accounts for about 18 per cent of the rise in total inequality.

Originality/value

The main contribution is to quantify the relation of specific establishment characteristics to the rise in total wage inequality over time. Conclusions are drawn about the importance of mechanisms of rent sharing at the firm level in comparison to the determination of wages by individual qualification.

Details

International Journal of Manpower, vol. 37 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0143-7720

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