The Canadian labour market experienced a considerable decline in the male-female pay gap during years 1988 to 1992. After 1992, however, the gender wage gap decreased only slightly. This paper will study the issue of difference in the explained gender wage gap in both the public and the private sectors and will examine the components of change in the wage gap between 1991 and 1996. We measure and decompose the gender wage differentials into explained and unexplained parts separately for the public and private sectors in Canada for the census years 1991 and 1996, and compare changes in the earnings gap between 1991 and 1996 in both sectors. The analysis is based on Oaxaca decomposition and Juhn-Murphy-Pierce decomposition techniques. <p> Results show that gender wage differentials are present in both sectors, although at a lower level in the public sector than in the private sector. In 1996, 67 percent of the wage gap is attributable to the unexplained part in the public sector, while in the private sector, this figure is 76 percent. Generally, males tend to have higher return to experience and more favorable occupation and industry distributions, which can account for the gender wage gap. Our findings also show that the overall gender wage gap decreases in both the public sector and the private sector between 1991 and 1996. This decrease is mainly attributed to the diminishing of the unexplained portion. In both the public and the private sectors, improvements in womens wage-determining factors and ranking relative to those of men contributed to a narrowing of the gender wage gap.

The Canadian labour market experienced a considerable decline in the male-female pay gap during years 1988 to 1992. After 1992, however, the gender wage gap decreased only slightly. This paper will study the issue of difference in the explained gender wage gap in both the public and the private sectors and will examine the components of change in the wage gap between 1991 and 1996. We measure and decompose the gender wage differentials into explained and unexplained parts separately for the public and private sectors in Canada for the census years 1991 and 1996, and compare changes in the earnings gap between 1991 and 1996 in both sectors. The analysis is based on Oaxaca decomposition and Juhn-Murphy-Pierce decomposition techniques. <p> Results show that gender wage differentials are present in both sectors, although at a lower level in the public sector than in the private sector. In 1996, 67 percent of the wage gap is attributable to the unexplained part in the public sector, while in the private sector, this figure is 76 percent. Generally, males tend to have higher return to experience and more favorable occupation and industry distributions, which can account for the gender wage gap. Our findings also show that the overall gender wage gap decreases in both the public sector and the private sector between 1991 and 1996. This decrease is mainly attributed to the diminishing of the unexplained portion. In both the public and the private sectors, improvements in womens wage-determining factors and ranking relative to those of men contributed to a narrowing of the gender wage gap.

Labor economists have persistently observed a “gap” in the earnings of men and women. In this paper, I attempt to offer a partial explanation for the gender wage gap by analyzing the gender wage gap across male-dominated, female-dominated, and gender-neutral occupations. Using data from the Current Population Survey (2010-2012), I perform three Oaxaca-Blinder decompositions across the entire sample. I then perform decompositions across male-dominated, female-dominated, and gender-neutral occupations separately using the first specification. I find that occupations of different gender concentrations (male-dominated, female-dominated, and gender-neutral) have different gender gaps. In particular, male-dominated and gender neutral occupations have a much larger gender wage gap than female-dominated occupations, even after controlling for human capital and demographic variables. Combined with previous research and summary statistics, these results seem to suggest that certain workplace factors that might contribute to a higher gender wage gap, such as workplace inflexibility and gender discrimination, could be higher among male-dominated and gender-neutral occupations than they are among female-dominated occupations; however, further research into the precise characteristics of male-dominated, gender-neutral, and female-dominated occupations is necessary to confirm this analysis.

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Researchers investigated how the contingent delivery of a cultural consequence on target culturants in an asymmetric iterated prisoner's dilemma game (IPDG) affected players' choices. The asymmetric IPDG creates an analogue to income disparities created by wage gaps and other cultural practices that create wealth inequalities between different members of the population and allows researchers to explore how these inequalities affect cooperation between players. Six undergraduate students divided into three dyads participated in an ABABCDCD reversal design. An asymmetric IPDG was arranged in Condition A and C such that one player received a greater number of points regardless of the second participants' selections - analogue to contingencies that produce income inequalities from wage gaps. In Condition B and D, a metacontingency was arranged such that delivery of a cultural consequence (CC; bonus points equally distributed among the dyad) was contingent on the oscillating production of target aggregate products (AP) across two consecutive cycles. When participants' coordinated responding and contacted the target AP→ CC relation, the wage gap was reduced. However, individual contingencies are in direct competition for the "wealthier" player, reducing the probability of cooperative responding. Results showed the CC selected certain oscillations between target APs resulting in a decrease of a point disparity between the players while also establishing equal points between the players during certain conditions.

In the field of labor economics, abundant research has been conducted on the cause and magnitude of the gender wage gap in various industries in the United States. While the national gender wage gap has decreased over the last few decades, this trend has not been observed in every industry. The film industry, in particular, has experienced a notable lack of progress in both its social and economic treatment of women. Because Hollywood has significant influence in the United States, its misguided portrayal of women and failure to ensure equal pay for male and female actors sets a harmful standard for the rest of the nation. Due to the confidential nature of actors’ salaries, however, there is little research on the topic of the gender wage gap in Hollywood. Using a couple hundred observations, I examined the magnitude of the gender wage gap in Hollywood and compared the impact of gender on actors’ salaries to that of more pertinent variables, such as critical success and available finances. I concluded that gender has a greater effect on an actor’s salary than any other variable. In consideration of the relative lack of literature on this topic, I recommend several ways to further the research conducted in this study.

This thesis focuses on the industry wage differentials, rent-sharing and the gender wage gap. I empirically investigate: i) the interaction between inter-industry wage differentials and the gender wage gap in six European countries, ii) how rent sharing interacts with the gender wage gap in the Belgian private sector and iii) the existence of inter-industry wage differentials in Belgium, through the unobserved ability hypothesis. The first chapter is devoted to the analysis of the interaction between inter-industry wage differentials and the gender wage gap in six European countries, i.e. Belgium, Denmark, Ireland, Italy, Spain, and the U.K. To do so, we have relied on a unique harmonised matched employer-employee data set, the 1995 European Structure of Earnings Survey. As far as we know, this paper is the first to analyse with recent techniques, on a comparable basis, and from a European perspective: i) inter-industry wage differentials by gender, ii) gender wage gaps by industry, and iii) the contribution of industry effects to the overall gender wage gap. It is also one of the few, besides Kahn (1998), to analyse for both sexes the relationship between collective bargaining characteristics and the dispersion of industry wage differentials. Empirical findings show that, in all countries and for both sexes, wage differentials exist between workers employed in different sectors, even when controlling for working conditions, individual and firm characteristics. We also find that the hierarchy of sectors in terms of wages is quite similar for male and female workers and across countries. Yet, the apparent similarity between male and female industry wage differentials is challenged by standard statistical tests. Indeed, simple t-tests show that between 43 and 71% of the industry wage disparities are significantly different for women and men. Moreover, Chow tests indicate that sectoral wage differentials are significantly different as a group for both sexes in all countries. Regarding the dispersion of the industry wage differentials, we find that results vary for men and women, although not systematically nor substantially. Yet, the dispersion of industry wage differentials fluctuates considerably across countries. It is quite large in Ireland, Italy and the U.K., and relatively moderate in Belgium, Denmark and Spain. For both sexes, results point to the existence of a negative and significant relationship between the degree of centralisation of collective bargaining and the dispersion of industry wage differentials. Furthermore, independently of the country considered, results show that more than 80% of the gender wage gaps within industries are statistically significant. The average industry gender wage gap ranges between -.18 in the U.K. and -.11 in Belgium. This means that on average women have an inter-industry wage differential of between 18 and 11% below that for men. Yet, correlation coefficients between the industry gender wage gaps across countries are relatively small and often statistically insignificant. This finding suggests that industries with the highest and the lowest gender wage gaps vary substantially across Europe. Finally, results indicate that the overall gender wage gap, measured as the difference between the mean log wages of male and female workers, fluctuates between .18 in Denmark and .39 in the U.K. In all countries a significant (at the .01 level) part of this gap can be explained by the segregation of women in lower paying industries. Yet, the relative contribution of this factor to the gender wage gap varies substantially among European countries. It is close to zero in Belgium and Denmark, between 7 and 8% in Ireland, Spain and the U.K., and around 16% in Italy. Differences in industry wage premia for male and female workers significantly (at the .05 level) affect the gender wage gap in Denmark and Ireland only. In these countries, gender differences in industry wage differentials account for respectively 14 and 20% of the gender wage gap. To sum up, findings show that combined industry effects explain around 29% of the gender wage gap in Ireland, respectively 14 and 16% in Denmark and Italy, around 7% in the U.K. and almost nothing in Belgium and Spain. In conclusion, our results emphasize that the magnitude of the gender wage gap as well as its causes vary substantially among the European countries. This suggests that no single policy instrument will be sufficient to tackle gender pay inequalities in Europe. Our findings indicate that policies need to be tailored to the very specific context of the labour market in each country. The second chapter examines investigates how rent sharing interacts with the gender wage gap in the Belgian private sector. Empirical findings show that individual gross hourly wages are significantly and positively related to firm profits-per-employee even when controlling for group effects in the residuals, individual and firm characteristics, industry wage differentials and endogeneity of profits. Our instrumented wage-profit elasticity is of the magnitude 0.06 and it is not significantly different for men and women. Of the overall gender wage gap (on average women earn 23.7% less than men), results show that around 14% can be explained by the fact that on average women are employed in firms where profits-per-employee are lower. Thus, findings suggest that a substantial part of the gender wage gap is attributable to the segregation of women is less profitable firms. The third and final chapter contributes to the understanding of inter-industry wage differentials in Belgium, taking advantage of access to a unique matched employer-employee data set covering the period 1995-2002. Findings show the existence of large and persistent wage differentials among workers with the same observed characteristics and working conditions, employed in different sectors. The unobserved ability hypothesis may not be rejected on the basis of Martins’ (2004) methodology. However, its contribution to the observed industry wage differentials appears to be limited. Further results show that ceteris paribus workers earn significantly higher wages when employed in more profitable firms. The instrumented wage-profit elasticity stands at 0.063. This rent-sharing phenomenon accounts for a large fraction of the industry wage differentials. We find indeed that the magnitude, dispersion and significance of industry wage differentials decreases sharply when controlling for profits.

This thesis explores several aspects of the labour market in Serbia and Croatia during the process of transition from socialism to a market economy. First, it examines how women??s position in the labour market has changed in Serbia. Using five annual Labour Force Surveys (2001-2005), I find that the gender wage gap is still very low in Serbia, and is even decreasing during this period. However, decompositions that apply the Oaxaca (1974) methodology reveal that the unexplained component of the gap is very large, and is increasing. Likewise, quantile decompositions suggest that while the raw gap is falling at each of the quantiles analysed, the unexplained component is increasing at most quantiles at the same time. Thus, the relatively small gap in earnings could be masking considerable discrimination in the labour market. Second, changes in men??s wage inequality in Serbia in the period from 2001 to 2005 are analysed using five annual Labour Force Surveys. Changes in the distribution of earnings are examined using the Lemieux (2002) decomposition methodology. I find that the change in wage inequality is mostly driven by changes in wage premiums, while the effect of changes in the composition of the labour force is very small. Isolating the effect of the emerging private sector reveals that changes in the private sector size and wage premium account for an average 25 percent of the changes in inequality during this period. Third, the effect that the recent war in Croatia (1991-1995) had on the educational and employment trajectories of the 1971 birth cohort of men is investigated. This birth cohort was most affected by the armed forces draft. I treat the occurrence of the war as a natural experiment and use data from the Croatian and Slovenian Labour Force Surveys. Applying the difference-in-difference framework and comparing this cohort to adjacent cohorts, women, and to respective cohorts in Slovenia, a neighbouring country that did not experience war, I find that the war has had a negative effect on educational outcomes and a small positive effect on the employment and earnings outcomes of this cohort of men.

This thesis explores several aspects of the labour market in Serbia and Croatia during the process of transition from socialism to a market economy. First, it examines how women??s position in the labour market has changed in Serbia. Using five annual Labour Force Surveys (2001-2005), I find that the gender wage gap is still very low in Serbia, and is even decreasing during this period. However, decompositions that apply the Oaxaca (1974) methodology reveal that the unexplained component of the gap is very large, and is increasing. Likewise, quantile decompositions suggest that while the raw gap is falling at each of the quantiles analysed, the unexplained component is increasing at most quantiles at the same time. Thus, the relatively small gap in earnings could be masking considerable discrimination in the labour market. Second, changes in men??s wage inequality in Serbia in the period from 2001 to 2005 are analysed using five annual Labour Force Surveys. Changes in the distribution of earnings are examined using the Lemieux (2002) decomposition methodology. I find that the change in wage inequality is mostly driven by changes in wage premiums, while the effect of changes in the composition of the labour force is very small. Isolating the effect of the emerging private sector reveals that changes in the private sector size and wage premium account for an average 25 percent of the changes in inequality during this period. Third, the effect that the recent war in Croatia (1991-1995) had on the educational and employment trajectories of the 1971 birth cohort of men is investigated. This birth cohort was most affected by the armed forces draft. I treat the occurrence of the war as a natural experiment and use data from the Croatian and Slovenian Labour Force Surveys. Applying the difference-in-difference framework and comparing this cohort to adjacent cohorts, women, and to respective cohorts in Slovenia, a neighbouring country that did not experience war, I find that the war has had a negative effect on educational outcomes and a small positive effect on the employment and earnings outcomes of this cohort of men.

This dissertation examines aspects of both the consumer (the "give") and the server (the "take") sides of restaurant tipping. On the consumer side, I address both why, and how much, people tip in restaurants. I also examine a policy issue related to the recent Supreme Court decision in United States v. Fior d'Italia. These issues are addressed via a combination of theoretical, empirical, and experimental analysis. On the server side, I use survey data collected from several restaurants to address the issue of labor market discrimination based on beauty. Specifically, do more attractive servers earn higher tips than less attractive servers? I argue that a tipping data set offers several advantages over data sets used in previous studies of the beauty wage gap. This dissertation was funded by a National Science Foundation Dissertation Enhancement Grant (NSF #427347). / Ph. D.