Donata Favaro

Gender wage differentials by education in Italy

In this article we evaluate wage differentials in Italy combining gender and education perspectives. The main goal of this article is to verify whether the extent of the gender pay gap varies between highly- and low-educated workers, and whether or not the role played by gender differences in characteristics and in market rewards is similar in the two groups. We apply quantile regression analysis and an adaptation of the procedure suggested by Machado and Mata (2005) to evaluate the predicted wage gap at different points of the female wage distribution scale. The analysis is carried out on the Italian sample of the last available year of the European Community Household Panel (ECHP). We show that the extent and the trend of the gap predicted across the female distribution is sharply different between groups with diverse educational levels. In the case of low-educated workers, although the predicted gap is largely explained by differences in rewards, lower levels of education or experience are responsible for the gap, especially on the right-hand side of the distribution. On the contrary, highly-educated females have better characteristics than highly-educated men that partially compensate the rather high difference in returns, in particular at the extremes of the distribution.

Part-Time and Temporary Employment: A Gender Perspective

This essay disentangles the inequalities in the take-up of non-standard work by gender as well as the gender differences in its determinants, and the factors conducive to the ‘choice’ of non-standard employment. With reference to part-time employment the estimates confirm the high weight of family structure variables affecting women in relation to part-time work. Meanwhile, involuntary part-time work turns out to be more likely to occur for women, for less well-educated individuals, and for people living in the South. This paper also deals with the evaluation of the costs connected to non-standard jobs: on average an hourly pay penalty is attached to temporary work both for men and for women, while for part-time work this penalty operates for women only. Part-time and temporary work are negatively related to the probability of holding supervisory positions, Attention is also devoted to other elements of well being like the access to medical and dental assessment and treatments, showing a higher probability of temporary workers having unmet needs, related to affordability. The latter is probably connected to higher income uncertainty for temporary employees, and can magnify the cost of holding a temporary job by affecting health outcomes.

Human capital, technology intensity, and growth in a regional context

In this article, we study the pattern of growth in one of the Italian best performing regions – the Veneto region – focusing on the role played by human capital and technology. Our aim is to verify the growth effect of human capital and technological intensity. The period considered is the pre-crisis period between 2001 and 2005. The results of the regressions clearly show how in the Veneto region the productive “specialization†, which has the greatest impact on growth, is the one in high-technology. However, human capital employed in high-technology intensive sectors does not explain growth significantly. This suggests an under-employment of human capital in the sectors at the frontier and the need to intervene with policies that develop high-technology industries.

Gender Differences in Productivity Rewards in Italy: The Role of Human Capital

In this paper we evaluate the gender wage gap component due to differences in characteristics� rewards in Italy. The main focus is on the relationship between human capital characteristics and gender differences in rewards. We propose a methodology that combines the quantile regression analysis with non-parametric procedures for the estimation of the probability density functions of reward differentials in order to evaluate the evolution of the gap due to human capital characteristics. The analysis is carried out on Italian data taken from the latest available cross-section of the European Community Household Panel (2001). Our study suggests that education can be a good productivity signal and helps reduce the range of the gap; furthermore, highly-educated women experience lesser gender-based pay differences as the length of the employment relationship increases.