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

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