Male-Female Wage Differentials in Urban Labor Markets
1973/10/01 by Ronald Oaxaca, Ronald L. Oaxaca · 8,528 citations
Economics, Econometrics and Finance · #Demographic economics #Distribution (mathematics) #Earnings #Economics #Generality #Labor market dynamics and wage inequality #Labour economics #Male female #Management #Wage
paper · doi:10.2307/2525981
published in International Economic Review 14(3), 693 (Wiley)
openalex publication_date 1973/10/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
Abstract
CULTURE, TRADITION, AND OVERT DISCRIMINATION tend to make restrictive the terms by which women may participate in the labor force. These influences combine to generate an unfavorable occupational distribution of female workers vis-a-vis male workers and to create pay differences between males and females within the same occupation. The result is a chronic earnings gap between male and female full-time, year-round workers. Unfortunately, explanations at this level of generality are mainly descriptive. It is the purpose of this paper to estimate the average extent of discrimination against female workers in the United States and to provide a quantitative assessment of the sources of male-female wage differentials.
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