Silvia Maja Melzer

Women at Work

Using a unique sample of 5,022 workers in 94 large German workplaces, the authors explore whether and how women’s access to higher level positions, firms’ human resources practices, and workers’ qualification levels are associated with gender differences in earnings. First, they find that having more women in management reduces the gender earnings gap for jobs with low qualifications, but not those with high qualifications. Second, they find that while men’s compensation is positively affected by having a male supervisor, women with a female supervisor do not receive such an advantage. Finally, they find that human resources practices and job-level qualifications moderate the association between gendered power and gender earnings inequalities. Integrating women into managerial and supervisory roles does not automatically reduce gender inequalities; its impacts are contingent on organizational context.

WHY DO COUPLES RELOCATE?: Considering migration from East to West Germany

ABSTRACT This paper examines the determinants of family migration from a post-socialist country, the former German Democratic Republic (today, the eastern part of reunified Germany), to a western country, West Germany. The paper seeks to answer the following questions: (1) How does the migration behavior of married and cohabitating men and women differ from that of individuals who live alone? (2) What factors influence family migration? (3) Are there gender-specific differences in the factors that influence migration? Hypotheses are derived from theories of gender roles, household economics, and bargaining to investigate the migration of individuals and families. Data from the Socio-Economic Panel Study covering the period 1992 to 2007 are analyzed using logistic hierarchical regression models. The results show that the male partners education level is the most important determinant of migration, whereas the female partners education is of secondary importance. The results generally support the predictions of gender role theory. Despite their egalitarian views and socialization in a socialist country, couples from East Germany exhibit a traditional orientation toward gender roles when making migration decisions.

The Organizational Production of Earnings Inequalities in Germany, 1994-2010

What drives workplace inequality levels and trends? We investigate this question with 1994- 2010 German private sector linked employer-employee panel data. We find that between workplace inequalities have risen faster than reported in previous work. Similar to studies in Sweden and the U.S. we find that most earnings inequalities are within workplaces, but much of the growth in earnings inequalities is between workplaces. Fixed effect models suggest that mean workplace wages – the between workplace component of growing national inequality – are primarily driven by changes in the skill composition of the workplace, although the rise of part-time employment has increased the aggregate wages of full-time workers and increased female employment depresses mean workplace wages. Within workplace inequality estimates highlight the central role of categorical distinctions – e.g. gender, education, part-time composition, and skill variance – in driving within workplace inequalities. Within workplace inequality is rising steeply in low wage workplaces. Gender heterogeneity and gender segregation are both associated with higher within workplace inequality, although these mechanisms seem to be weakening over time. Both high skill and part-time intensive workplaces generate high within workplace inequality, suggesting that high inequality is consistent with both low and high road production strategies.

Soziale Ungleichheiten im 21. Jahrhundert

Peter A. Berger / Karsten Hank / Angelika Tölke (Hrsg.), Reproduktion von Ungleichheit durch Arbeit und Familie. Wiesbaden: VS 2011, 331 S., br., 34,95 € François Bourguignon, Die Globalisierung der Ungleichheit. Hamburg: Hamburger Edition 2013, 127 S., gb., 12,00 € Michael Hartmann, Soziale Ungleichheit – Kein Thema für die Eliten? Frankfurt a. M.: Campus 2013, 250 S., br., 19,90 € Bernhard Müller, Erosion der gesellschaftlichen Mitte: Mythen über die Mittelschicht – Zerklüftung der Lohnarbeit – Prekarisierung & Armut – Abstiegsängste. Hamburg: VSA 2013, 142 S., br., 14,80 € Johannes D. Schütte, Armut wird „sozial vererbt“. Status Quo und Reformbedarf der Inklusionsförderung in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland. Wiesbaden: Springer VS 2013, 305 S., br., 39,99 € Stefan Selke, Schamland. Die Armut mitten unter uns. Berlin: Econ 2013, 288 S., gb., 18,00 € Hans-Ulrich Wehler, Die neue Umverteilung. Soziale Ungleichheit in Deutschland. München: C.H. Beck 2013, 191 S., kt., 11,99 €