This thesis explores how and why gender wage inequality persisted in Australia during the period 1990 to 2003. A review of the wage data indicated that Australian inequality persisted during this period and even increased in Western Australia. An analysis of the literature and published tribunal decisions showed that the focus of action relating to gender wage equality was on the formal industrial relations system, through legislation and tribunal decisions. As the literature also indicated that these measures had failed to assist many female-dominated occupations, it was felt useful to examine the views of key stakeholders in the formal industrial relations system. Given the mainly quantitative and aggregate data analysis of previous empirical literature and the theoretical literature’s growing focus on less quantifiable social factors, it was felt that qualitative research would add to the analysis of gender wage determination. This thesis uses in-depth interviews with stakeholders in the federal and Western Australian industrial relations systems to examine the period 1990 to 2003. Their perceptions and observations are triangulated with published wage data from selected occupations. / Interviewees felt that the persistence of gender wage inequality was a complex artifact. An artifact of economic, industrial relations, social and cultural factors, combined with the biological and psychological attributes of all involved in decisions before and in the workplace. While much of the gender wage gap literature has been focused on the economic, industrial relations, or legal aspects of wage inequality, this thesis uniquely demonstrates why and how social and cultural influences also act to create persistent gender wage inequality. As much as action is taken in the legal and political arena to create equality, the players in the industrial relations system, consciously or not, both male and female, say that they have helped to (re)construct the gender wage gap. The implications are that in order to achieve gender wage equality, action cannot be left only to legislation and activity in the courts, but is also needed at the social and cultural level. Such action could be taken within the enterprise as well as in the school, community and home.

This thesis discusses the changes and corresponding causes of the wage distribution in China from the late 1990s to the 2000s. According to various data sources, real wage inequality in China has been increasing over time. People have become increasingly concerned about such a phenomenon, which can potentially cause economic instability and further social unrest. From the analysis of household survey data, a significant part of the the increase in wage dispersion in China can be attributed to changes in the institutional changes. Having gone through the institutional reform of state-owned enterprises in the late 1990s, many Chinese firms have become more privatized and smaller in size. That is to say, the Chinese labour market becomes less affected by the government intervention (through public enterprises). Changes in the supply side of the labour market have also been examined. The increase in the number of university graduates slows down the growing wage dispersion. A comparison between the household survey data and the industrial enterprises data tells a slightly different story about Chinas wage structure. As the firm-level data omits within-firm wage inequalities and excludes data of primary sectors, the service sectors, and the small businesses, a decrease in the logarithm of the wage variation has been found. The inconsistency between the changes of real wage dispersion and the dispersion of log wages has been discussed in depth in the thesis. Nonetheless, since China set the new minimum wage in 2004, the wage distribution in the countrys industrial sector has been reshaped, which is not obviously shown in the household data. The impact of increasing the national minimum wage has been evaluated under a set of relatively conservative assumptions. Further analysis has been conducted to quantify the effect of trade liberalization on wage dispersion. It turns out that starting to export on the part of the firms has a significant positive effect on firm-level wages and employments, but the impact of an increasing export exposure remains debatable.

In recent decades, there have been increased investments in automation-related technology across several European industries. Parallel to this, industry-level labour share declines and differences in wage growth between demographic groups can be observed. This thesis examines the relationship between the increased technological investments and labour market outcomes of different demographic groups to uncover how increased exposure to automation technology has contributed to wage inequality between 2002-2018. The empirical strategy follows Acemoglu & Restrepo (2022) and links the wage change of demographic groups across ten European countries to their expected task displacement, quantified through their specialization in routine tasks and exposure to industries with labour share declines, both in a reduced form and instrumental variable specification. The main empirical findings suggest that there has been no significant effect of increased exposure to automation, specifically computers and software, on relative wages between groups in Europe between 2002-2018, contrasting previous results from the U.S.

(Un-)gleichheit und Gerechtigkeit waren schon immer Kernbestandteil eines jeden politischen Konzeptes, welches das Wohl der Menschen in den Mittelpunkt rückte. Die Idee der Gleichheit ist so alt wie die der Demokratie selbst und neben instrumentellen Gründen, aus denen man (Un-)gleichheit schätzen oder ablehnen kann, ist die Existenz einer inhärenten Abneigung von Ungleichheit inzwischen ein allgemein akzeptiertes Faktum innerhalb der volkswirtschaftlichen Disziplin. Diese Dissertation trägt zur daraus folgenden Debatte um die Ursachen, Auswirkungen, und die Messung von Ungleichheit bei. Die Arbeit besteht aus drei Aufsätzen, welche empirische Untersuchungen in einem breit definierten Spektrum von wirtschaftlicher Ungleichheit – welches sowohl Löhne aus nicht-selbstständiger Arbeit, als auch breiter gefasste Einkommenskonzepte umfasst – enthalten. Was sind die Faktoren, welche zu einem Anstieg oder einer Verringerung von Ungleichheit innerhalb eines Landes führen und welche Auswirkungen hat diese höhere oder geringere Ungleichheit für dessen langfristige wirtschaftliche Entwicklung? Es wäre anmaßend zu behaupten, allgemeingültige Antworten auf diese wichtigen Fragen innerhalb der folgenden drei Aufsätze geben zu können. Diese Dissertation versucht vielmehr, Erklärungen für bestimmte Teilaspekte zu liefern. In Aufsatz 1 beschäftige ich mich mit dem Wirtschaftswachstum, eine der wohl wichtigsten Konsequenzen von Ungleichheit was die langfristige Wirkung auf das materielle Wohlbefinden eines Landes angeht. Im Zuge dessen befasse ich mich eingehend mit der noch immer ungelösten Kontroverse darüber, ob Ungleichheit zu mehr Wachstum beiträgt. Im Folgenden vertiefe ich dann die Diskussion über die Messung von Ungleichheit in Aufsatz 2 und führe damit eine Debatte fort, auf die bereits Essay 1 unvermeidlich stößt. Ich konzentriere mich dabei auf ein Maß für die Lohnverteilung in einer der Hauptsektoren der Wirtschaft, der verarbeitenden Industrie. Die Debatte über die richtige Messung von Ungleichheit ist nicht trivial: Weder die Ursachen, noch die Folgen von Ungleichheit können untersucht werden, ohne in die Details verschiedener zur Verfügung stehender Maße gehen zu müssen. Die Verfügbarkeit geeigneter Daten auf Länderebene und über die Zeit ist Voraussetzung für empirische Studien zu diesen Themen. Tatsächlich ist einer der Gründe dafür, dass es noch immer keinen Konsens darüber gibt, ob die Ungleichheit zwischen den Ländern in den letzten 50 Jahren gestiegen oder gefallen ist, die Vielfalt nicht nur der Maße, sondern auch der diesen zugrundeliegenden Konzepten, die in unterschiedlichen Studien verwendet werden. Die verschiedenen Maße reagieren ungleich stark auf bestimmte Bereiche der Einkommensverteilung und können daher zu unterschiedlichen Schlussfolgerungen darüber, in welchen Ländern es mehr und welche weniger Ungleichheit gibt, oder über Änderungen von Ungleichheit im Laufe der Zeit führen. Aus einem ähnlichen Grund ist die Literatur noch immer uneins über den Einfluss von Ungleichheit auf das Wirtschaftswachstum: Aufgrund der Nutzung unterschiedlicher Datenquellen sowie durch Mängel in den zugrundeliegenden Daten selbst ist die Vergleichbarkeit der verschiedenen Studien stark eingeschränkt. Unberührt davon, dass die Debatte um den Einfluss von Ungleichheit auf das Wirtschaftswachstum ungelöst bleibt, ist es wichtig zu wissen, welche Faktoren Ungleichheit verursachen oder verschlimmern (und welche dies nicht tun). Aufsatz 3 untersucht einen der in der öffentlichen Debatte häufiger zitierten Gründe für den Anstieg der Ungleichheit, den Handel. Ich untersuche empirisch die potentiellen Faktoren, die mit Handel einhergehen und zu steigender Ungleichheit führen können. Ich beschränke mich hierbei auf den Bestandteil von Ungleichheit, der laut Handelstheorien unmittelbar relevant für die Auswirkungen von Handel ist: die Verteilung der Löhne. Dabei verwende ich den in Aufsatz 2 behandelten Index der Lohnungleichheit in der verarbeitenden Industrie in einem der wenigen Kontexte, in denen dieser, wie ich in Aufsatz 2 argumentiere, angemessen ist.

In this study, I compare men and women with and without children to analyze the effect of children on wages and earnings. By comparing the gender wage gap to the family gap for men and women respectively, I find that there is still a persistent, yet rather small, family gap for women. The constant family gap for women supports the notion that a greater fraction of the gender wage gap can be explained by effects of having children now than previously. When using yearly earnings instead of hourly wages, the gender wage gap increases whereas the family gap for women decreases. This implies that although there are several policies with the aim of reducing gender wage differences and creating possibilities for women to combine work and family, there are still concrete effects that arise from taking the responsibility for children. Because the effect of having children is seemingly constant over time for women, the results from this study imply that specific policies are needed to prevent and battle the difference in labor market outcomes that arise because of the differing effects from caring for children.

nÃo hà / As questÃes ligadas à educaÃÃo e à desigualdade de renda foram o objeto deste estudo, no qual foram coletados dados da Prova Brasil de 2011 (base de dados do SAEB- Sistema de AvaliaÃÃo da educaÃÃo BÃsica), especificamente sobre os resultados da prova de matemÃtica e lÃngua portuguesa, aplicadas aos alunos do 9 ano do Ensino Fundamental, bem como dados dos Ãndices de Gini e do Ãndice de Desenvolvimento Humano Municipal (IDH-M). Objetivase com esta pesquisa fazer um paralelo entre o desempenho escolar dos alunos do 9 ano dos estados do Cearà e SÃo Paulo junto à questÃo da desigualdade de renda e desenvolvimento humano, e, para tanto, testa-se a hipÃtese de que existe uma relaÃÃo inversa entre desempenho escolar e desigualdade de renda e positiva entre desempenho escolar e IDH-M para estes estados da federaÃÃo e para o ano da pesquisa. AlÃm disto, um exercÃcio contra factual propÃe verificar a seguinte questÃo: Se o Cearà apresentasse o Ãndice de Gini e IDH de SÃo Paulo, como o modelo explicaria o desempenho dos alunos cearenses medido pela Prova Brasil? / The issues related to education and income inequality were the goal of this study, in which data from Prova Brasil 2011 (database Saeb-System Evaluation of Primary education) were collected specifically on the results of math and Portuguese test, applied to students in the 9th grade of elementary school, as well as data and Gini Index Municipal Human development Index (HDI-M). We aim with this research to draw a parallel between the academic performance of students in the 9th grade in the states of Cearà and SÃo Paulo connected to the issue of income inequality and human development, and testing the hypothesis that there is an inverse relationship between performance educational and income inequality between school performance and positive and HDI-M, for these states of the federation and the survey year. Besides, a counterfactual exercise proposes to verify the following question: If Cearà presented the Gini Index and HDI of SÃo Paulo, how the model would explain the performance of Cearà students measured by Prova Brasil?

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There was a well documented surge of wage inequality in the US that started from mid-70s and continued in 80s, slowing down by mid-90s, caused by increased dispersion both between and within groups of people with similar personal characteristics and skills. We analyze the US wage inequality in the more recent years to see if this trend continues. We apply the decomposition technique of Juhn, Murphy and Pierce (1993) and quantile regression to March Current Population Survey data of the US Bureau of Labor Statistics data and Luxembourg Income Study data for a few selected European countries. We find that the increase in wage inequality continues during the 90s, especially in the second half. In addition, the focus of wage inequality shifts into the upper half of the wage distribution after mid-80s. The European countries do not show a common trend in the direction of wage inequality during the 90s. However, the focus of their wage inequality seems to be shifting towards the lower half of the wage distribution as opposed to that of US.

This dissertation analyzes changes in the ruling strategies of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in the context of economic reforms, beginning in 1978. By employing both quantitative and qualitative methods, this dissertation investigates how Chinese leaders have utilized legitimating strategies, while modifying their governing strategies, in order to a) solidify the population, b) consolidate ruling authority and c) maintain political and social stability. Specifically, this dissertation looks at how Chinese policymakers have developed effective public policies in response to rapidly rising wage inequality, one of the most pressing problems undermining the CCP’s ruling authority. By providing an original estimate of China’s wage inequality and analyzing the government’s response to it, this dissertation provides a unique look at how the CCP has transformed government functions from growth-based to people-centered to meet various social, political and economic challenges. A comparative statistical analysis helps illustrate the philosophical roots and sources of the CCP’s political legitimacy. The technique of Theil Statistics is applied to measure China’s wage inequality during the reform period. A multivariate hierarchical regression analysis is employed to measure the impact of rising inequality on Chinese society. Two models on social welfare system reform are studied in order to understand Hu Jintao and Wen Jiabao’s people-centered governing philosophy and the rationale for constructing a service-oriented government. / text

Prior research from the U.S. and abroad reveals a sizable lesbian earnings advantage over otherwise-similar heterosexual women. Using data from the 2000 U.S. Census and 2005-2010 American Community Surveys, we estimate traditional earnings equations and find robust evidence of a lesbian premium, corroborating the findings of previous studies. Using within-sample maternity incidence as an estimate of employers' forward-looking expectations, we then examine whether differences in the perceived likelihood of an employee requiring maternity leave, here-labelled 'maternity risk', contribute to the lesbian pay gap. Results from a direct assessment suggest that maternity risk adversely affects income, and that accounting for near-term differences in maternity risk reduces the lesbian premium by approximately ten to fifteen percent. Further analyses, using proxy variables for differential maternity risk, yield similar results. As such, the persistent finding of a lesbian earnings advantage in previous studies can be attributed, at least in part, to employers' aversion to maternity risk and its associated costs. These findings are also of critical importance to the general labour-market discrimination literature. Given the adverse earnings effect of maternity risk, our analysis suggests that estimates of the well-established gender earnings disparity are likely to be considerably smaller when incorporating maternity risk into the analysis. Absent the ability to adequately control for maternity risk, strict attention should be paid to potential upward bias in estimated earnings differentials. Moreover, policymakers should consider the broader implications of maternity-leave policy on the labour-market outcomes of females. In this respect, maternity-leave policy may influence the hiring and promotion decisions of employers, thereby indirectly affecting sexual-orientation and gender equality in the labour market. However, further research in this area is still required, given the limitations inherent in the direct and indirect analyses.