Structural change and the narrowing gender gap in wages : theory and evidence from Hong Kong
Document Type
Journal article
Source Publication
Labour Economics
Publication Date
10-1-2003
Volume
10
Issue
5
First Page
609
Last Page
626
Keywords
Economic development, Gender Gap, Sectoral shifts
Abstract
This paper offers a theoretical and empirical analysis on the sources of the narrowing gender gap in wages. Based on some existing literature, the model posits that the narrowing gender gap may be related to women's changing comparative advantage and the gender gap is smaller in occupations in which physical labor is less intensively used. The model implies that when an economy transforms from a manufacturing-oriented economy to service-oriented economy, a woman's productivity relative to a man's will generally increase so that the gender gap narrows. The implications of the theoretical analysis are then tested based on 1% random sub-samples of two population censuses. The empirical results support the predictions of the model.
DOI
10.1016/S0927-5371(03)00032-0
Print ISSN
09275371
E-ISSN
18791034
Publisher Statement
Copyright © 2003 Elsevier Science B.V.
Access to external full text or publisher's version may require subscription.
Full-text Version
Publisher’s Version
Language
English
Recommended Citation
Fan, C. S., & Lui, H.-K. (2003). Structural change and the narrowing gender gap in wages: Theory and evidence from Hong Kong. Labour Economics, 10(5), 609-626. doi: 10.1016/S0927-5371(03)00032-0