Gender Wage Gap: Discrimination or Different Preferences of Men and Women? A Case Study of Ostrava, Czech Republic

Gender Wage Gap: Discrimination or Different Preferences of Men and Women? A Case Study of Ostrava, Czech Republic

Zuzana Machová (Faculty of Economics, VSB – Technical University of Ostrava, Ostrava, Czech Republic) and Lenka Filipová (Faculty of Economics, VSB – Technical University of Ostrava, Ostrava, Czech Republic)
Copyright: © 2013 |Pages: 15
DOI: 10.4018/jissc.2013010104

Abstract

This paper was written as a part of a research project studying problem of wage determinant measuring and wage discrimination considering different wage requirements of men and women. The wage determinants and gender wage discrimination are analyzed using a probit model. The whole analysis is methodologically based on Mincer’s Wage Regression and Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition of gender wage gap. The wage variables include, aside from standard personal characteristics, dummies for institutional and firm characteristics and dummies for family status and family roles. The data were gained by a questionnaire survey carried out in Ostrava city. The results of the analysis, representative for the city, show statistically significant differences between wage determinants of men and women. The survey concluded in 2 statements: (1) family role is an important wage determinant and its inclusion to Mincer’s Wage Regression leads to better explanation of wages; and (2) including family characteristics in Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition can significantly reduce unexplained part of gender wage gap, i.e., a part of a wage difference usually ascribed to gender wage discrimination can be explained by different preferences of men and women on a labor market.
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Wage Determination And Wage Discrimination Measuring

Mincer´s approach that is usually used for wage determinant measuring is based on human capital theory where single personal characteristics are reflected. This theory sees the wage to be determined by quality of education, general working experience, specific working experience already gained in working process, and other qualities free of education and working experience. Empiric literature (Ashenfelter, Layard, & Card, 1999) proved the validity of Mincer´s wage function in basic and modified versions also in countries with different institutional structure. The ratio of education and working experience for explanation of wage differences differs from country to country and moves from 30% - 50%.

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