Understanding the public sector pay gap

Abstract: We uncover the short- and long-run structural determinants of the existing cross-country heterogeneity in public-private pay differentials for a broad set of OECD countries. We explore micro data (EU-SILC, 2004-2012) and macro data (1970-2014). Three results stand out. First, when looking at pay gaps based on individual data, more than half of the cross-sectional variation of the sample can be accounted for by the degree of exposure to international competition, as well as by the size of the public sector labor force and its composition (i.e., the intensity in the provision of pure public goods), while labor market institutions play a very limited role. Second, we find that in some countries, pay gaps have narrowed down significantly during the recent financial crisis, this decrease being explained by the widespread process of fiscal consolidation rather than by changes in the previous factors. Third, we show that in the log run, openness to international trade and improvements in

Object Details

• Location: Deutsche Nationalbibliothek Frankfurt am Main
• Extent: Online-Ressource
• Language: Englisch
• Notes: Veröffentlichungsversion ; begutachtet (peer reviewed) ; In: IZA Journal of Labor Policy ; 6 (2017) ; 1-29

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Wirtschaft

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (where): Mannheim
• (who): SSOAR, GESIS – Leibniz-Institut für Sozialwissenschaften e.V.
• (when): 2017
• Creator: Campos, Maria M. ; Depalo, Domenico ; Papapetrou, Evangelia ; Pérez, Javier J. ; Ramos, Roberto

Further information

• DOI: 10.1186/s40173-017-0086-0
• URN: urn:nbn:de:0168-ssoar-75201-8
• Rights: Open Access; Der Zugriff auf das Objekt ist unbeschränkt möglich.
• Last update: 15.08.2025, 7:34 AM CEST