Inter-Industry Gender Wage Gaps by Knowledge Intensity:Discrimination and Technology in Korea

Syracuse University Center for Policy Research Working Paper No. 79

35 Pages Posted: 20 Apr 2011

See all articles by William C. Horrace

William C. Horrace

Syracuse University - Department of Economics

Beyza P. Ural Marchand

University of Alberta - Faculty of Arts

Jin Hwa Jung

Seoul National University

Date Written: March 1, 2006

Abstract

A new gender wage gap decomposition methodology is introduced that does not suffer from the identification problem caused by unobserved non-discriminatory wage structure. The methodology is used to measure the relative size of Korean gender wage gaps from 1994 to 2000 across industries, differentiated by industrial knowledge intensity, where knowledge intensity is the extent to which industries produce or employ high-technology products. Korea represents an important case study, since it possesses one of the fastest growing knowledge-intensive economies, among industrialized countries. Empirical results indicate that over this period, discrimination (the unexplained portion of the gender wage gaps) in Korea was statistically smaller in knowledge-intensive industries than in industries with low knowledge intensity. Also, discrimination was declining on average over the period. This suggests that continued growth in knowledge-intensive industries in Korea may lead to further declines in the overall gender gap.

Keywords: discrimination, labor markets, wage differential, compensation

JEL Classification: C12, J31, J71

Suggested Citation

Horrace, William C. and Ural Marchand, Beyza P. and Jung, Jin Hwa, Inter-Industry Gender Wage Gaps by Knowledge Intensity:Discrimination and Technology in Korea (March 1, 2006). Syracuse University Center for Policy Research Working Paper No. 79, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1815270 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1815270

William C. Horrace (Contact Author)

Syracuse University - Department of Economics ( email )

Syracuse, NY 13244-1020
United States
315-443-9061 (Phone)
315-443-1081 (Fax)

HOME PAGE: http://faculty.maxwell.syr.edu/whorrace

Beyza P. Ural Marchand

University of Alberta - Faculty of Arts ( email )

Edmonton, Alberta
Canada

Jin Hwa Jung

Seoul National University ( email )

Kwanak-gu
Seoul, 151-742
Korea, Republic of (South Korea)