The Persistence of the Gender Wage Gap in Germany

  • The gender wage gap is remarkably persistent in Germany. Additionally it is among the European Member states one of the highest. The paper ex- amines the empirical data which allow analysing the gender wage gap; it discusses the development of the gender pay gap over time, the trends in wage inequality and the incidence of low pay. As institutional factors are of certain importance, the paper describes the overall system of wage determination, especially the minimum wage regulations. Important is the treatment of gender way gaps in the equal pay legislation to date, which is analysed in detail. As firm level decisions are of great importance to constitute the gender wage gap, this aspect is discussed, too. The paper summarizes the actual state of the art in empirical studies on the gender pay gap in Germany and comes to the conclusion that relevant factors to explain the persistence are mainly structural factors like vertical and hori- zontal segregation, especially in the work place. Individual characteristics of women and men (human capital endowments) do play a minor role, but are still existent.

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Metadaten
Author:Friederike Maier
URN:urn:nbn:de:kobv:b721-opus4-120
Series (Serial Number):Discussion Papers des Harriet-Taylor-Mill-Instituts (01/2007)
Publisher:Fachhochschule für Wirtschaft Berlin
Place of publication:Berlin
Document Type:Article
Language:English
Date of Publication (online):2012/12/01
Date of first Publication:2007/12/01
Publishing Institution:Hochschulbibliothek HWR Berlin
Creating Corporation:Harriet Taylor Mill-Institut
Contributing Corporation:Harriet Taylor-Mill-Institut
Release Date:2012/10/01
Volume:2012
Issue:12/2007
Edition:1
Page Number:40
Institutes:Harriet Taylor Mill Institut
Licence (German):License LogoUrheberrechtsschutz