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Public–private wage differentials in euro-area countries: evidence from quantile decomposition analysis

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  • Domenico Depalo
  • Raffaela Giordano
  • Evangelia Papapetrou
Abstract
We evaluate the public–private wage differential for men in ten euro-area countries in the period 2004–2007. Using the most recent methodologies on a Mincerian equation, we assess how much of the differential depends on differences in endowments and how much on differences in the remuneration of such skills. For the first time, we look at the contribution of specific covariates at different quantiles of the wage distribution and decompose the variance into an explained and an unexplained component. We find that the pay gap is often decreasing over the distribution and that it is mostly determined by higher endowments in the upper tail of the wage distribution and by higher returns of such endowments at the low tail, with considerable heterogeneity across countries. We further find that the wage distribution in the public sector is more compressed than in the private sector in some countries. This is the result, for all countries, of more dispersed distributions of endowments in the public sector and of returns in the private sector. Copyright Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2015

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  • Domenico Depalo & Raffaela Giordano & Evangelia Papapetrou, 2015. "Public–private wage differentials in euro-area countries: evidence from quantile decomposition analysis," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 49(3), pages 985-1015, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:empeco:v:49:y:2015:i:3:p:985-1015
    DOI: 10.1007/s00181-014-0900-0
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Public employment; Wage differentials; Wage determination;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H50 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - General
    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials
    • J45 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Particular Labor Markets - - - Public Sector Labor Markets
    • J50 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor-Management Relations, Trade Unions, and Collective Bargaining - - - General

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