Template-type: ReDIF-Paper 1.0
Author-Name: Piazzalunga, Daniela
Author-Email: daniela.piazzalunga@unito.it
Author-Name:  Di Tommaso, Maria Laura
Author-Email: marialaura.ditommaso@unito.it
Author-Workplace-Name: University of Turin
Author-Workplace-Homepage: http://www.est.unito.it/
Title: The increase of gender wage gap in Italy during the 2008-2012 economic crisis.
Abstract: The paper examines the gender wage gap in Italy during the 2008-2012 economic crisis, using 
cross-sectional EU-SILC data. The gender wage gap has increased from 4% (2008) to 8% (2012), but after 2010 the 
growth (and its unexplained component) was particularly pronounced in the upper part of the wage distribution, 
suggesting that two different patterns have been underway, depending on the period. In fact, in 2010-2011 a
wage freeze in the public sector was introduced as an austerity measure, and the average public sector premium had 
a signicant drop of 4%, even more pronounced for women.
Using counterfactual analysis, we show that such wage freeze has been one of the major causes of the growth of the 
gender wage gap, disproportionately aecting women, who are more likely to be employed in the public sector. 
The `policy effect' accounts for more than 100% of the increase between 2009 and 2011, while other changes, if anything,
would have reduced the gender gap.
Length: 45 pages
Creation-Date: 2015-07
File-URL: http://www.est.unito.it/do/home.pl/Download?doc=/allegati/wp2015dip/wp_32_2015.pdf
File-Format: Application/PDF
Handle: RePEc:uto:dipeco:201532