Abstract
Extending the work of Atkinson et al. (J. Econ. Inequal. 16, 225–256, 2018), we decompose top-earnings gender disparities into a glass-ceiling coefficient and a top-earnings gender gap. The decomposition uses that both male and female top earnings are Pareto distributed. If interpreting top-earnings gender disparities as caused by a female-specific earnings tax, the top-earnings gender gap and glass-ceiling coefficient measure the tax level and tax progressivity, respectively. Using Danish data on earnings, we show that the top-earnings gender gap and the glass-ceiling coefficient evolve differently across time, the life cycle, and educational groups. In particular, while the top-earnings gender gap has been decreasing in Denmark over the period 1980-2013, the glass-ceiling coefficient has been remarkably stable.
Original language | English |
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Journal | The Journal of Economic Inequality |
Volume | 19 |
Issue number | 2 |
Pages (from-to) | 347-362 |
Number of pages | 16 |
ISSN | 1569-1721 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - Jun 2021 |
Keywords
- Decomposition
- Gender gap
- Glass ceiling
- Summary statistics