The gender gap in earnings: an international comparison with European matched employer–employee data

Abstract

This article examines the origin of the cross-country heterogeneity of the gender wage gap in nine European countries using a unique harmonized international matched employer–employee dataset. Our novel findings suggest that cross-country differences in the intensity of female segregation into low-paying workplaces is a relevant source of international differences in the size of the gap and that international disparities in the characteristics of wage structures are not very influential. On the other hand, the evidence is not fully conclusive with respect to the influence on the variations of the gap of different macroeconomic, social and institutional country-specific features considered previously in the literature.