The Gender Wage Gap in Italy Study on the Changes in the Wage Gap During the Period of Financial Crisis
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The gender wage gap in Italy Study on the changes in the wage gap during the period of financial crisis BACHELOR THESIS WITHIN: Economics NUMBER OF CREDITS: 15hp PROGRAMME OF STUDY: International Economics AUTHOR: Raneem Jisri & Boguslawa Aleksandra Stec JÖNKÖPING May 2020 Bachelor Thesis in Economics Title: The gender wage gap in Italy: study on the changes in the gap during the period of financial crisis Authors: Boguslawa Aleksandra Stec & Raneem Jisri Tutor: Andrea Schneider Date: May 2020 Key terms: gender wage gap, financial crisis, pay gap, Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition, Italy Abstract Everywhere around the world, whether in developing or developed countries, women earn less than men. This phenomenon is in no way new and it has been investigated for many years. Still, in today’s modern society, the wage gap does not appear to be closing. In times of economic instability, such as the economic crisis, the progress towards equality may be pushed back, since specific groups, sectors, and occupations may be affected differently. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to investigate the Italian gender wage gap with a closer look at the fluctuations during the period of the financial crisis. In order to analyse and understand the fluctuations of the pay gap, the three main theories used in the research are the human capital theory, occupational segregation, and theories regarding the labour market structure. By applying the Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition method, this study analyses to what extent the gap could be explained by differences in observable characteristics, such as level of education or age, and how much remains unexplained. The empirical model is applied to the Italian Survey of Household Income and Wealth (SHIW) microdata between the period of 2002 and 2016. The main findings show that the Italian gender wage gap, for the most part, remains unexplained. This indicates that the differentials in pay cannot be accounted for by differences in observable characteristics, such as education, age, contract type. The results of this research show that the Italian wage gap was, to some extent, negatively affected by the financial crisis. Furthermore, implemented austerity measures were found not to have significant negative impacts on the gap, which only increased in the initial phase of the crisis. i Table of Contents 1. INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................ 1 2. LITERATURE REVIEW .................................................................................................... 3 2.1 HUMAN CAPITAL THEORY ................................................................................................. 3 2.2 LABOUR MARKET STRUCTURE ............................................................................................ 4 2.3 OCCUPATIONAL SEGREGATION .......................................................................................... 5 3. THE INSTITUTIONAL BACKGROUND OF THE FINANCIAL CRISIS .................. 7 4. HYPOTHESES ................................................................................................................... 10 5. EMPIRICAL MODEL AND DATA ................................................................................ 11 5.1 DATA ............................................................................................................................... 11 5.2 OAXACA-BLINDER DECOMPOSITION ................................................................................ 11 5.3 VARIABLES INCLUDED IN THE REGRESSION ...................................................................... 13 6. EMPIRICAL RESULTS ................................................................................................... 16 6.1 DESCRIPTIVE STATISTICS ................................................................................................. 16 6.2 WAGE DETERMINANTS .................................................................................................... 17 6.3 THE GENDER WAGE GAP IN ITALY .................................................................................... 18 6.3.1 General decomposition output .................................................................................. 19 6.3.2 Distinction between public and private sectors ........................................................ 22 7. CONCLUSION ................................................................................................................... 26 REFERENCE LIST ............................................................................................................... 28 APPENDIX ............................................................................................................................. 32 ii 1. Introduction “If I had a nickel for every time someone told me” the gender pay gap is a myth,” I may have made back the income I’ve lost over the years for being a woman” (Salam, 2019). It is not a myth, and every day around the world, women suffer from discrimination and inequality in various shapes or forms. The inequalities in pay between men and women are just one example. Not only does it bring multiple disadvantages to women, but it is also a persistent phenomenon, affecting all countries, whether developing or developed (Blau & Kahn, 2003). The issue of the gender wage gap is not in any way new. It has been investigated for years with the aim to understand the problem and eventually eliminate it. Additionally, it has been an important aspect of European legislation and policy (Plantenga & Remery, 2006). Despite increasing research and attention towards the subject, the issue is still persistent. The unadjusted gender pay gap is the difference between the average earnings of female and male workers, which is usually expressed in percentage (European Commission, 2018). In Italy, over the years, the wage gap has been decreasing. As of 2017, the unadjusted wage gap in Italy stood at 5%, compared to the European average of 16% (EIGE, 2019). However, this trend reversed with the beginning of the Great Recession in 2008. Unlike in many other European countries, it led to an increase in the Italian gender wage gap (Eurostat, 2020). In order to analyse the possible factors that can contribute to the inequalities in pay between men and women, multiple theories have been developed. Firstly, the human capital theory - explaining the wage gap by differences in accumulated human capital. These differences are, in turn, explained by the individual characteristics and productivity differences such as experience and education (Plantenga & Remery, 2006). Secondly, there seem to be differences in the vulnerability of men and women due to the influence of occupational segregation, which results in women clustering into occupations often perceived as lower-paying (Boll et al., 2016). In addition, increased commitment to parenting is associated with higher part-time rates among women. Therefore, the over-representation of women in part-time work could worsen the wage gap since part-time work is not perceived as equally efficient as full-time work (Boll et al., 2016). In times of economic downturn, countries go through many changes. Whether this is in the labour market, such as increasing unemployment rates, or in public finances. Economic shocks, as such, can also play an essential role in fighting the inequalities, and may even slow down the progress. The Great Recession that began in 2008 had affected numerous countries worldwide. However, Europe was one of the greatly affected regions, including Italy (Smith & Villa, 2014). This period of recession in Italy has been termed as a “double-dip recession” as it recorded two phases (Figari & Fiorio, 2015). The first phase began in 2008, with the beginning of the Great Recession. While the second phase, the sovereign debt crisis, began in 2011 and lasted until 2014 (Figari & Fiorio, 2015). The impact of the recession on Italy can be viewed from multiple different aspects. Firstly, the negative effect on unemployment rates. Just in the first year, these rates increased from being 6.7% to 7.8% (Istat, 2010). Furthermore, during the period of double-dip recession, the real GDP declined by almost 13.5%, while the GDP per capita decreased by approximately 17% (Figari & Fiorino, 2015). Similarly, to many European countries, the Italian public debt had drastically increased to 120% of GDP in just the first year (OECD, 2011). This shows that the effects of this crisis were very severe, and Italy is recovering to this day. In the first phase of the crisis, in multiple European countries, the wage gap has declined, however, in the case of Italy, the gap has increased (Eurostat, 2020). In order to combat the crisis, the Italian government introduced several policies. The majority aimed at reducing the size of the public sector and were not implemented until the second phase of the crisis (Bordogna and Neri, 2014). Nonetheless, in the first phase, even though moderate, the government introduced fiscal stimulus packages (OECD, 2011). In contrast, during the second phase, the policies included public sector wage cuts, wage freezes, workers cuts, and pension reforms. However, these policies may affect men and women differently, and therefore affect the wage gap (Bettio et al., 2012). This aspect is especially important with regard to sectors that are considered more dominated by women. A prime example of which is the public sector, which has been affected differently by the