Documentos de Académico
Documentos de Profesional
Documentos de Cultura
Matthew Brodie
SID#: 307215679
INTRODUCTION
The gap between female and male earnings in Australia has dominated both
popular and academic debates from the 1970’s onwards. Despite the
women’s pay outcomes during the 1970’s and 1980’s, the persistent gap has
been met with disgust by the popular media (Needham, 2009; Galacho,
approach derived from the work of Ronald Oaxaca (1973) and Alan Blinder
(1973), whose methods utilise quantitative data and regress them against
factors believed to influence the GWR. In a labour market that legislates for
‘equal pay for equal work,’ principles of merit and marginal returns to labour
productivity ought to account for the female wage gap. It follows that the
which cannot be captured via statistical analysis (Wooden, 1999; Brown &
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Ridge, 2002; Pocock & Alexander, 1999; Kidd & Meng, 1997; Le & Miller,
(1973) and Blinder (1973), and will explain the impact various contributory
Petcock and Alexander (1999), the factors will be divided into categories of
size) and job characteristics (full time employment); all of which are
regressed against individual income. The following sections will specify the
methods used to collect and process the data and then interpret the results
in respect to the GWR differential. Also, a discussion of the findings will draw
linkages between the factors and the wage gap in light of other research into
the subject area and lastly, the paper will conclude by suggesting avenues
METHODS
Individuals between the ages of 25-59 years who are unmarried and not
living with their parents or in an institution are the focus of this study. This
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delivers a sample that posits the individual as the main source of income,
were covered to reduce the possibility of bias affecting the results. Within
were conducted over the period from April 1st – July 31st, 1994. Each
subjects.
Data that was gathered for the survey included demographic information on
sex, age (denominated in years) and the individuals’ town size as measured
income). The human capital component was measured by the level of formal
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unemployed, etc.). This measure is fairly ambiguous as it does not allow for a
comparison of equal pay for equal work across full time and part time jobs. A
more complete data set would measure income by the hour. It does
however, allow for the model to control for part time work, which is a
an income band. Of the 345 eligible individuals’ 305 could provide data for
RESULTS
models that were processed using the data from the abovementioned survey
it has on their income. Model 2 carries this analysis further by controlling for
that age is relatively unimportant due to the small size of its coefficient. The
vast array of literature that establishes a causal link between education and
after controlling for full time employment and town size. All the independent
income between Model 2 and Model 3 once employment type and town size
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statistical evidence that finds full time workers earn more (ABS, 2009), and it
The large and expected residuals in all models are in line with similar
of this study.
DISCUSSION
factor that could possibly explain the expected variance in the model. Thus
the results derived from the data reinforce much of the existing work
that impact upon an individuals’ income (Le & Miller, 2001; Wooden, 1999;
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income, it still does not account for the gap that persists in the GWR. Kidd
and Meng (1997) recognise this fact and conclude that a small improvement
not large enough to considerably close the GWR (p. 41). Secondly, the large
drop in the value of the sex coefficient after the introduction of the
explaining the GWR is the part time nature of women’s work. Again this
finding is in line with the vast majority of existing research that cites broken
response to familial care responsibilities as reasons for this trend (Preston &
the results of the research and the GWR due mainly to limitations with data
of other relevant variables would provide for a more in-depth analysis of the
CONCLUSION
The findings of this research paper attribute the divergent nature of the
Australian GWR to the over representation of women in part time work and a
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large regression residual that encompasses an unmeasured level of
workplace discrimination. The implications that this has for Australian society
theories of Figart (1997), Bergmann (1987) and Short and Nowak (2009) go
some way in dealing with this issue by combining both qualitative and
child care and paternity leave, such as that adopted in Sweden, would go
some way in closing the GWR (OECD, 2007). Ultimately, the gap in the GWR
will most likely only close when Australian society undergoes a shift in the
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