The Effect of Occupational Segregation on Male-Female Wage Differentials

• Main Authors: Ying-hsien Wu, 吳映嫻
• Other Authors: Li-hsuan Huang
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2012
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/82955615848102446497

碩士 === 國立中央大學 === 經濟學研究所 === 100 === The main purpose of this study is to examine the effect of occupational segregation on male-female wage differentials in Taiwan. We use the 2002 to 2010 Manpower Utilization Survey data to explore the effect for two primary industries, i.e., manufacturing and service, and focus on their differences. The empirical dataset is industrial panel. We perform the regression by two-stage least square and correct for the problem of endogeneity. The empirical results show that occupational segregation, one of the main factors in explaining male-female wage differentials, accounts for the diminishing of the male-female wage differentials by 7.40% to 11.94%. It is particular valid for both the white collar and the blue collar workers in the manufacturing sector as well as the white collar workers in the service sector, explaining the reduction of the male-female wage differentials by 22.16% to 145.61%, much higher than those found in the related literature in Taiwan. Moreover, three factors are found crucial in reducing occupational segregation. They are the prosperity of industry, the expansion of higher education, and the gender self-selection in the study fields. The higher the industrial growth rate, the lower degree of occupational segregation is. This finding implies that those industries value workers abilities rather than their genders. In addition, education leads to more balanced distribution in workers’ study fields across the males and females and leads to the reduction of occupational segregation, which in turn causes the diminishing of male-female wage differentials. As such, higher educational policy in Taiwan should be quite successful in this regard.