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Journal of Labor Economics Vol. 16 No. 1 1998

Male‐Female Supply to State Government Jobs and Comparable Worth

Peter F. Orazem; J. Peter Mattila

Iowa State University

Abstract

The proportion of women in state government jobs and applicant pools is well explained by a model emphasizing supply‐side factors. Relative to men, women's supply is least sensitive to wages in predominantly male jobs and most sensitive to wages in predominantly female jobs. These results suggest that comparable worth policies that shift relative pay toward traditionally female jobs and away from traditionally male jobs will increase the proportion of females in male‐dominated, female‐dominated, and total state government jobs. The implication is that supply side responses need not prevent comparable worth pay adjustments from raising total female compensation.

DOI
10.1086/209883
Volume
16
Issue
1
Pages
95-121
Language
en
Sources
openalex crossref

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