Comparable worth is a new and controversial policy advocated by groups seeking to close the wage gap between women and men. The term is shorthand for equal pay for jobs of comparable and refers to a system in which firms are required to set wages for different occupations to reflect differences in the worth of the job, usually defined by four characteristics: skill; effort; responsibility; and working conditions. It may not seem radical to relate wage differentials to such characteristics as skill and working conditions. Indeed, economists have long argued that occupational wage differentials arising in competitive labor markets would reflect factors such as these. The controversy arises because of the process by which the contents of jobs are valued under a comparable worth system. Proponents of comparable worth reject market assignment of value because markets are said to reflect bias against occupations traditionally held by women. Under comparable worth, jobs are typically evaluated by a political process in which committees of consultants and representatives of the employer, the union, women's groups, and others, determine the value of jobs. It is an important