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Substantial research has been devoted to the estimation and explanation of the gender wage gap. The effects of work status on wages have been studied somewhat less. This article draws on existing work to generate new estimates of the wage penalty associated with part-time employment in Belgium. Given the fact that women remain the primary caregivers, almost solely in charge of housework, part-time employment has often been presented as an ideal solution for those wanting to combine family and professional responsibilities. However, parttime employment has many flaws, not the least of which is the wage penalty it induces. On the basis of the 1995 Structure of Earnings Survey (SES), we estimate the wage gap between part-time and full-time work for a sample of women only. Based on our results, we advance explanations related to human capital and productivity differences, types of job and industry branches, personal characteristics of part-timers, etc. We also compare the results with earlier results for Belgium based on the European Community Household Panel (ECHP). The unexplained part of the part-time wage gap allows us to assess the degree to which labour markets discriminate against part-timers. The existence of such discrimination suggests that equal opportunities policies should focus not only on labour market conditions but also on a more equal sharing of domestic work between men and women., info:eu-repo/semantics/published

Dans le cadre de la Présidence belge de l’Union européenne au deuxième semestre 2010, l’Institut pour l’égalité des femmes et des hommes a demandé au Département d’économie appliquée de l’Université Libre de Bruxelles (DULBEA) de préparer un rapport européen qui présente les indicateurs quantitatifs et qualitatifs relatifs à l’écart salarial approuvés par le Conseil de l’Union européenne en 2001. Ce rapport incorpore un certain nombre de développements récents qui tiennent compte des conclusions de la Task Force spéciale d’Eurostat qui avait pour objectif d’étudier et d’améliorer le calcul de l’indicateur relatif à l’écart salarial. Le rapport comporte deux parties :la première partie est relative aux indicateurs quantitatifs (Ratio des salaires des femmes et des hommes pour tous les salariés ;Ratio pour la masse salariale ;Ratio pour le temps partiel ;Ratio par âge et par niveau d'éducation ;Désavantage salarial dans les professions où les femmes sont concentrées ;Décomposition de l’écart salarial horaire entre hommes et femmes par la technique d’Oaxaca) et la seconde est relative aux indicateurs qualitatifs (Indicateur sur les lois, réglementations et dispositifs de lutte contre les discriminations et les inégalités professionnelles ;Indicateur sur l’influence des autorités publiques en matière de négociation salariale ;Indicateur concernant le temps partiel et les suspensions temporaires de la carrière professionnelle), ces deux types d’indicateurs permettant d’analyser les inégalités salariales entre les pays européens dans des optiques différentes. Le but de ce rapport vise à donner un aperçu de la situation de l’écart salarial dans l’Union européenne, sur la base des neuf indicateurs approuvés par le Conseil des Ministres de l’Union européenne en 2001 et de formuler une proposition d’actualisation de ces indicateurs, tenant compte des développements statistiques et de l'évolution législative intervenus depuis lors., info:eu-repo/semantics/published

In Belgium, 2007 has been marked by long coalition negotiations over an agreement on a new government. The main bone of contention had been related to the reform of the Belgian Federal State. Among the suggested reforms, the regionalisation of the collective bargaining system turned out frequently. It relies on the assumption that the productivity differences between regions are not fully taken into account in a federal wage setting system. Our findings challenge this hypothesis by putting forward the current existence of wage differentials between regions and joint committees. We also show that regional wage differentials at the joint committee level are correlated to regional productivity differences. Finally, we find that the correlation between regional wage differentials and productivity is higher in decentralised joint committees. Hence, we conclude that productivity variations are already integrated in the Belgian wage setting system., info:eu-repo/semantics/published

Depuis près de 20 ans, la plupart des débats concernant la rémunération du travail sont centrés sur la question de la compétitivité. Si la question des coûts salariaux est évidemment importante, on en arrive cependant à oublier que tous les travailleurs belges ne sont pas logés à la même enseigne du point de vue de leur rémunération. Des disparités importantes existent en effet entre certaines catégories de travailleurs. L’objectif de ce rapport est d’identifier les facteurs qui sont à l’origine de ces différentiels. Les résultats obtenus mettent en évidence, au cours des chapitres successifs, l’impact sur le salaire des situations particulières des salariés, selon leur sexe, leurs statuts d’emploi ou de chômeur, leur âge et l’effet sur les différentiels salariaux de la structure et des caractéristiques des entreprises, des secteurs d’activité et des négociations collectives. Chacun de ces chapitres donne lieu, pour finir, à une série de recommandations en terme de politique économique., info:eu-repo/semantics/published

Sinds vrijwel twintig jaar, spits het debat over de verloning van arbeid zich in grote mate toe op de probematiek van de concurrentiekracht. De loonkostenproblematiek is uiteraard belangrijk, maar men vergeet daarbij soms dat niet alle Belgische werknemers over dezelfde kam geschoren mogen worden waar het hun bezoldiging betreft. Aanzienlijke ongelijkheden bestaan inderdaad tussen bepaalde werknemerscategorieën. Dit rapport identificeert de factoren die tot die ongelijkheden leiden. De resultaten werpen achtereenvolgens een licht op het loon in specifieke situaties van loontrekkenden die veband houden met hun geslacht, hun statuut als werknemer of als werkloze, hun leeftijd en het effect van de structuur en de kenmerken van de ondernemingen, van de activiteitssectoren en van het collectief overleg op de loonvershillen. Elk hoofdstuk van dit rapport word afgesloten met een reeks aanbevelingen voor het economisch beleid., info:eu-repo/semantics/published

This paper examines the role of worker and employer characteristics in the determination of wages in the Belgian private sector. Empirical findings, based on detailed matched employer-employee data covering the period 1995-2002, reveal the existence ceteris paribus of: i) a substantial but decreasing return on education, ii) a large and stable gender wage gap, iii) an increasing wage penalty for those employed on a fixed term contract, iv) a positive and persistent employer-size wage effect, v) small and slightly declining regional wage differentials, and vi) a positive but moderate effect of company collective agreements on workers’ wages. Further results show persistent but decreasing wage differentials between workers with the same observed characteristics and working conditions, employed in different sectors., info:eu-repo/semantics/published

En Belgique, la question de la formation des salaries n’échappe pas à la communautarisation des débats. Parmi les réformes suggérées apparaît de manière récurrente la régionalisation des négociations salariales. Ses partisans estiment notamment que les différences de productivité entre région ne sont pas intégralement prises en compte dans une formation unifiée des salaires. Les différentes estimations réalisées dans cette étude nous ont permis de constater que dans l’état actuel, des différentiels salariaux existent déjà entre régions, secteurs et commissions paritaires. Nous avons également observé que les salaires sont sensibles à l’évolution des profits dans les trois régions. Sur base de ces différents résultats, nous pouvons conclure que les différences de profitabilité sont d’une certaine manière déjà prises en compte dans la formation des salaires. Il n’est pas sûr qu’une régionalisation de la formation des salaires débouche sur un résultat fort différent., info:eu-repo/semantics/published

This paper investigates inter-industry wage differentials in Belgium, taking advantage of access to a unique matched employer-employee data set covering the period 1995-2002. Findings show the existence of large and persistent wage differentials among workers with the same observed characteristics and working conditions, employed in different sectors. The hypothesis that workers with better unmeasured abilities are over-represented in high-wage sectors may not be rejected on the basis of Martins’ (2004) methodology. However, the contribution of this explanation to the observed industry wage differentials appears to be limited. Further results show that ceteris paribus, workers earn significantly higher wages when employed in more profitable firms. Our instrumented wage-profit elasticity stands at 0.063 and Lester’s range of pay is about 41 per cent of the mean wage. This rent-sharing phenomenon accounts for a large fraction of the industry wage differentials. We find indeed that the magnitude, dispersion and significance of industry wage differentials decreases sharply when controlling for profits., info:eu-repo/semantics/published

Using a unique harmonized matched employer-employee dataset (European Structure of Earnings Survey, 1995), we study the impact of the regime of collective bargaining on wages in the manufacturing sector of three countries that are characterized by a multilevel system of bargaining: Belgium, Denmark and Spain. Our findings show that, compared to multi-employer bargaining, single-employer bargaining has a positive effect both on wage levels and on wage dispersion in Belgium and in Denmark. In Spain, single-employer bargaining also increases wage levels but reduces wage dispersion. Our interpretation is that in Belgium and Denmark, single-employer bargaining is used to adapt pay to the specific needs of the firm while, in Spain, it is mainly used by trade unions in order to compress the wage distribution., info:eu-repo/semantics/published

This paper investigates inter-industry wage differentials in Belgium, taking advantage of access to a unique matched employer-employee data set covering the period 1995-2002. Findings show the existence of large and persistent wage differentials among workers with the same observed characteristics and working conditions, employed in different sectors. The hypothesis that workers with better unmeasured abilities are over-represented in high-wage sectors may not be rejected on the basis of Martins’ (2004) methodology. However, the contribution of this explanation to the observed industry wage differentials appears to be limited. Further results show that ceteris paribus, workers earn significantly higher wages when employed in more profitable firms. Our instrumented wage-profit elasticity stands at 0.063 and Lester’s range of pay is about 41 per cent of the mean wage. This rent-sharing phenomenon accounts for a large fraction of the industry wage differentials. We find indeed that the magnitude, dispersion and significance of industry wage differentials decreases sharply when controlling for profits.

Using a rich and comparable micro-data set, we analyse international differences in gender pay gaps in the private sector for a sample of five European economies: Belgium, Denmark, Ireland, Italy and Spain. Using different methods, we examine how wage structure, differences in the distribution of measured characteristics, occupational segregation contribute to explain the pattern of international differences. Furthermore, we take into account indirect discrimination influencing female occupational distributions. We find significant impacts of those latter factors on gender differentials. However, the magnitude of their effects varies across countries., info:eu-repo/semantics/published

This study examines the magnitude and determinants of the establishment-size wage premium in five European countries using a unique harmonised matched employer-employee data set. Findings show the existence of a significant positive wage premium in all countries, even when controlling for labour quality, working conditions, monitoring, sectoral and regional effects, bargaining institutions, job stability, and concentration of skilled workers. In crossnational perspective, results support the existence of an inverse relationship between the size wage gap and the degree of corporatism. Final results indicate that the size wage premium is generally larger in the manufacturing sector and for blue-collar workers., info:eu-repo/semantics/published

This study analyses the interaction between inter-industry wage differentials and the gender wage gap in six European countries using a unique harmonised matched employer-employee data set, the 1995 European Structure of Earnings Survey. Findings show the existence of significant inter-industry wage differentials in all countries for both sexes. While their structure is quite similar for men and women and across countries, their dispersion is significantly larger in countries with decentralised bargaining. These differentials are significantly and positively correlated with industry profitability. The magnitude of this correlation, however, is lower in countries with centralised and coordinated collective bargaining. Further results show that in all countries more than 80% of the gender wage gaps within industries are statistically significant. Yet, industries having the highest and the lowest gender wage gaps vary substantially across European countries. Finally, results indicate that industry effects explain between 0 and 29% of the overall gender wage gap., info:eu-repo/semantics/published