Sergio Scicchitano

A note on the gender wage gap among managerial positions using a counterfactual decomposition approach: sticky floor or glass ceiling?

In this article, we apply a counterfactual decomposition approach using Quantile Regression (QR) to the wage distribution of managerial workforce in Italy. We find evidence of both significant sticky floor and glass ceiling effects for the Gender Wage Gap (GWG). Furthermore, the U-shaped figure of the pay gap is mostly due to the difference in rewards that the two genders receive for their characteristics, whose relative incidence is also continuously increasing as we move to upper quantiles.

The gender wage gap among Spanish managers

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the existence of sticky floor and glass ceiling effects in the gender wage gap (GWG) among Spanish managers. In addition, the paper determines if the pay gap at every quantile is a result of the gender characteristic differences, or the differences in returns to those characteristics. Design/methodology/approach – The paper exploits a counterfactual decomposition analysis, using quantile regression, to decompose the GWG into one component that is based on differences in characteristics and one component that is based on differences in coefficients across the wage distribution. Findings – A significant GWG over all the wage distribution is found. Such a gap exhibits a clear U-shaped pattern, thus pointing out both significant sticky floor and glass ceiling effects. Furthermore, the paper shows that such pattern is mainly determined by the coefficient effect, whose relative incidence is almost continuously increasing along the wage distribution. Research...