Identifying Age Penalty in Women's Wages: New method and evidence from Germany
1. Identifying Age Penalty in Womenâs Wages:
Identifying Age Penalty in Womenâs Wages:
New method and evidence from Germany
J. Tyrowicz L. van der Velde I. van Staveren
IAFFE @ ASSA 2017
3. Identifying Age Penalty in Womenâs Wages:
Introduction
Why it matters?
DeďŹnitely: women have gradually better educational attainment
Arguably: sorting matters less (for many occupations)
4. Identifying Age Penalty in Womenâs Wages:
Introduction
Why it matters?
DeďŹnitely: women have gradually better educational attainment
Arguably: sorting matters less (for many occupations)
â raw aggregate gender wage gap should decline
which it does ....
5. Identifying Age Penalty in Womenâs Wages:
Introduction
Why it matters?
DeďŹnitely: women have gradually better educational attainment
Arguably: sorting matters less (for many occupations)
â raw aggregate gender wage gap should decline
which it does .... but really slowly ...
Aging process in Europe?
6. Identifying Age Penalty in Womenâs Wages:
Introduction
Why it matters?
DeďŹnitely: women have gradually better educational attainment
Arguably: sorting matters less (for many occupations)
â raw aggregate gender wage gap should decline
which it does .... but really slowly ...
Aging process in Europe?
Is there an age pattern?
Implications for eďŹcient policies to address gender wage gap?
7. Identifying Age Penalty in Womenâs Wages:
Introduction
Motivation
Adjusted gender wage gap for selected cohorts as they aged
.1.15.2.25.3.35
Adjustedgap
25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60
Age
1940â1944 1950â1954 1960â1964
Controls: tenure, experience, small kids in the household, married, education level and year.
8. Identifying Age Penalty in Womenâs Wages:
Introduction
Theory on age pattern in gender wage gap
Unequal distribution of activities within the household (Becker 1985)
Child bearing and child rearing and its expectation (Mincer and
Polachek 1974, Goldin and Katz 2008, Goldin 2014)
Gender bias in the measurement of human capital
9. Identifying Age Penalty in Womenâs Wages:
Introduction
Theory on age pattern in gender wage gap
Unequal distribution of activities within the household (Becker 1985)
Child bearing and child rearing and its expectation (Mincer and
Polachek 1974, Goldin and Katz 2008, Goldin 2014)
Gender bias in the measurement of human capital
Statistical discrimination from the employers (Dahlby 1983)
10. Identifying Age Penalty in Womenâs Wages:
Introduction
Theory on age pattern in gender wage gap
Unequal distribution of activities within the household (Becker 1985)
Child bearing and child rearing and its expectation (Mincer and
Polachek 1974, Goldin and Katz 2008, Goldin 2014)
Gender bias in the measurement of human capital
Statistical discrimination from the employers (Dahlby 1983)
âHysteresis eďŹectâ (Babcock et al. 2002, Blau and Ferber 2011)
11. Identifying Age Penalty in Womenâs Wages:
Introduction
Theory on age pattern in gender wage gap
Unequal distribution of activities within the household (Becker 1985)
Child bearing and child rearing and its expectation (Mincer and
Polachek 1974, Goldin and Katz 2008, Goldin 2014)
Gender bias in the measurement of human capital
Statistical discrimination from the employers (Dahlby 1983)
âHysteresis eďŹectâ (Babcock et al. 2002, Blau and Ferber 2011)
âDouble standard of agingâ (Duncan and Loretto 2004, Neumark
et al. 2015)
12. Identifying Age Penalty in Womenâs Wages:
Introduction
Intended contribution
Explore the eďŹects of the life-cycle in womenâs earnings penalty
13. Identifying Age Penalty in Womenâs Wages:
Introduction
Intended contribution
Explore the eďŹects of the life-cycle in womenâs earnings penalty
Extend the method proposed by DiNardo, Fortin and Lemieux
(1996) to separate cohort, time and age eďŹects.
14. Identifying Age Penalty in Womenâs Wages:
Method
DiNardo, Fortin and Lemieux decomposition (1996)
Given a joint distribution of wages and characteristics of the form
f (wi ) = fi (w|x) f (x|g = i)dx (1)
(where i represents the gender: men or women)
15. Identifying Age Penalty in Womenâs Wages:
Method
DiNardo, Fortin and Lemieux decomposition (1996)
Given a joint distribution of wages and characteristics of the form
f (wi ) = fi (w|x) f (x|g = i)dx (1)
(where i represents the gender: men or women)
then a counterfactual wage structure using a reweighting parameter Ψ(x)
may be represented as
f (wc
f ) = ff (w|x) Ψj (x)fj (x|g = f )dx. (2)
Conveniently, Ψ(x) can be recovered using probit models.
16. Identifying Age Penalty in Womenâs Wages:
Method
Methodology
By setting alternative Ψ(x), we deďŹne counterfactual distributions, e.g.
traditional: male Ëdistribution with female characteristics
17. Identifying Age Penalty in Womenâs Wages:
Method
Methodology
By setting alternative Ψ(x), we deďŹne counterfactual distributions, e.g.
traditional: male Ëdistribution with female characteristics
our approach:
male Ëdistribution if female characteristics were constant as we age
18. Identifying Age Penalty in Womenâs Wages:
Method
Methodology
By setting alternative Ψ(x), we deďŹne counterfactual distributions, e.g.
traditional: male Ëdistribution with female characteristics
our approach:
male Ëdistribution if female characteristics were constant as we age
+
female Ëdistribution if female characteristics were constant over time
19. Identifying Age Penalty in Womenâs Wages:
Method
Methodology
By setting alternative Ψ(x), we deďŹne counterfactual distributions, e.g.
traditional: male Ëdistribution with female characteristics
our approach:
male Ëdistribution if female characteristics were constant as we age
+
female Ëdistribution if female characteristics were constant over time
if sample of men and women is constant â also unobservable
characteristics
20. Identifying Age Penalty in Womenâs Wages:
Method
Methodology
By setting alternative Ψ(x), we deďŹne counterfactual distributions, e.g.
traditional: male Ëdistribution with female characteristics
our approach:
male Ëdistribution if female characteristics were constant as we age
+
female Ëdistribution if female characteristics were constant over time
if sample of men and women is constant â also unobservable
characteristics
â how gender wage gaps change, as men and women age
21. Identifying Age Penalty in Womenâs Wages:
Method
Method
The raw gender wage gap in any age (âj ) is the sum of explained and
unexplained component:
âj = f (w|m, j) â f (w|f , j)
Explained component
+ f (w|f , j) â f (w|f , j)
Unexplained component
22. Identifying Age Penalty in Womenâs Wages:
Method
Method
The raw gender wage gap in any age (âj ) is the sum of explained and
unexplained component:
âj = f (w|m, j) â f (w|f , j)
Explained component
+ f (w|f , j) â f (w|f , j)
Unexplained component
Hence, âj â âi =
fm,j (w|x) ((f (x|m, i) â f (x|m, j)
â(f (x|f , j)) â f (x|f , i)))dx
Change in explained component
+ (fm,i (w|x) â fm,j (w|x)
â(ff ,i (w|x) â ff ,j (w|x))) (f (x|f , i)
Change in unexplained component
+ Change in residuals
23. Identifying Age Penalty in Womenâs Wages:
Data
Data
(West) German nationals aged 25-59 â SOEP
Period: 1984-2008.
24. Identifying Age Penalty in Womenâs Wages:
Data
Data
(West) German nationals aged 25-59 â SOEP
Period: 1984-2008.
SOEP has great retention rates
Over 7 000 individuals are observed for a decade or longer.
25% of the original sample observed on every year.
Almost 70 000+ complete observations (exclusion gender symmetric)
25. Identifying Age Penalty in Womenâs Wages:
Data
Data
(West) German nationals aged 25-59 â SOEP
Period: 1984-2008.
SOEP has great retention rates
Over 7 000 individuals are observed for a decade or longer.
25% of the original sample observed on every year.
Almost 70 000+ complete observations (exclusion gender symmetric)
Dependent variable: real hourly wages
Rich set of covariates: education, tenure, experience full and part
time, household characteristics, occupations, industries, type of
employment...
26. Identifying Age Penalty in Womenâs Wages:
Data
A quick look at the sample
0
.2
.4
.6
.8
Proportion
Married Small kids Higher education Employment
1984 1990 1996 2002 2008 Men
Aged: 25â34
27. Identifying Age Penalty in Womenâs Wages:
Data
A quick look at the sample
0
.2
.4
.6
.8
Proportion
Married Small kids Higher education Employment
1984 1990 1996 2002 2008 Men
Aged:35â44
28. Identifying Age Penalty in Womenâs Wages:
Data
A quick look at the sample
0
.2
.4
.6
.8
Proportion
Married Small kids Higher education Employment
1984 1990 1996 2002 2008 Men
Aged:45â59
29. Identifying Age Penalty in Womenâs Wages:
Results
Adjusted gender wage gap across age and cohorts
Bar: a period in the sample, colors preserve bar colors. Line: womenâs participation
rate at the right axis.
30. Identifying Age Penalty in Womenâs Wages:
Results
Double decomposition: changes in the adjusted gap
Initial year Avg. change
Initial Age 1984 1989 1994 1999 2004 with age
25-29 0.04 0.07 0.09 0.01 0.05 0.05
30-34 0.10 0.03 0.03 0.03 -0.02 0.03
35-39 -0.04 0.15 0.00 -0.04 -0.02 0.01
40-44 0.17 -0.02 0.00 0.01 -0.01 0.03
45-49 -0.11 0.01 0.06 0.08 0.05 0.02
50-54 -0.03 0.03 -0.14 -0.05 -0.01 -0.04
31. Identifying Age Penalty in Womenâs Wages:
Results
Double decomposition: changes in the adjusted gap
Initial year Avg. change
Initial Age 1984 1989 1994 1999 2004 with age
25-29 0.04 0.07 0.09 0.01 0.05 0.05
30-34 0.10 0.03 0.03 0.03 -0.02 0.03
35-39 -0.04 0.15 0.00 -0.04 -0.02 0.01
40-44 0.17 -0.02 0.00 0.01 -0.01 0.03
45-49 -0.11 0.01 0.06 0.08 0.05 0.02
50-54 -0.03 0.03 -0.14 -0.05 -0.01 -0.04
What to do about non-working years?
32. Identifying Age Penalty in Womenâs Wages:
Results
Double decomposition: changes in the adjusted gap
Initial year Avg. change
Initial Age 1984 1989 1994 1999 2004 with age
25-29 0.04 0.07 0.09 0.01 0.05 0.05
30-34 0.10 0.03 0.03 0.03 -0.02 0.03
35-39 -0.04 0.15 0.00 -0.04 -0.02 0.01
40-44 0.17 -0.02 0.00 0.01 -0.01 0.03
45-49 -0.11 0.01 0.06 0.08 0.05 0.02
50-54 -0.03 0.03 -0.14 -0.05 -0.01 -0.04
What to do about non-working years?
Include working for a wage in Ψ(x)
33. Identifying Age Penalty in Womenâs Wages:
Results
Double decomposition: changes in the adjusted gap
Initial year Avg. change
Initial Age 1984 1989 1994 1999 2004 with age
25-29 0.04 0.07 0.10 0.04 0.07 0.06
30-34 0.04 0.02 0.07 0.04 0.01 0.04
35-39 -0.02 0.15 0.00 -0.03 0.00 0.02
40-44 0.17 0.02 -0.02 0.09 0.04 0.06
45-49 -0.13 0.03 0.18 0.11 0.07 0.05
50-54 -0.04 0.05 -0.16 -0.06 -0.03 -0.05
34. Identifying Age Penalty in Womenâs Wages:
Results
Double decomposition: changes in the adjusted gap
Initial year Avg. change No E
Initial Age 1984 1989 1994 1999 2004 with age controls
25-29 0.04 0.07 0.10 0.04 0.07 0.06 0.05
30-34 0.04 0.02 0.07 0.04 0.01 0.04 0.03
35-39 -0.02 0.15 0.00 -0.03 0.00 0.02 0.01
40-44 0.17 0.02 -0.02 0.09 0.04 0.06 0.03
45-49 -0.13 0.03 0.18 0.11 0.07 0.05 0.02
50-54 -0.04 0.05 -0.16 -0.06 -0.03 -0.05 -0.04
35. Identifying Age Penalty in Womenâs Wages:
Conclusions
Take home message
Adjusted gender wage gap ...
grows with age
non-monotonically
also in post-reproductive age
36. Identifying Age Penalty in Womenâs Wages:
Conclusions
Take home message
Adjusted gender wage gap ...
grows with age
non-monotonically
also in post-reproductive age
Interpretation
Consistent with human capital ... to some extent
Question: is there a case for human capital story in the
post-reproductive age?
37. Identifying Age Penalty in Womenâs Wages:
Conclusions
Summary
1 A new method for identifying age eďŹects in adjusted GWG
2 New evidence for Germany, a country with relatively high inequality,
stable over time
38. Identifying Age Penalty in Womenâs Wages:
Conclusions
Summary
1 A new method for identifying age eďŹects in adjusted GWG
2 New evidence for Germany, a country with relatively high inequality,
stable over time
Policy implication 1: if Germany is typical, aggregate GWG will
increase as societies age (composition eďŹects)
39. Identifying Age Penalty in Womenâs Wages:
Conclusions
Summary
1 A new method for identifying age eďŹects in adjusted GWG
2 New evidence for Germany, a country with relatively high inequality,
stable over time
Policy implication 1: if Germany is typical, aggregate GWG will
increase as societies age (composition eďŹects)
Policy implication 2: overlapping penalties?
40. Identifying Age Penalty in Womenâs Wages:
Conclusions
Summary
1 A new method for identifying age eďŹects in adjusted GWG
2 New evidence for Germany, a country with relatively high inequality,
stable over time
Policy implication 1: if Germany is typical, aggregate GWG will
increase as societies age (composition eďŹects)
Policy implication 2: overlapping penalties?
Where to now?
International context: UK, US, Canada, Russia, Korea
Hours ďŹexibility story (Goldin 2014)
41. Identifying Age Penalty in Womenâs Wages:
Conclusions
Questions or suggestions?
Thank you for your attention
42. Identifying Age Penalty in Womenâs Wages:
Conclusions
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