Wage protection systems, segregation and gender pay inequalities: West Germany, the Netherlands and Great Britain

This paper provides an empirical test of Rubery and Fagan's (1995) hypothes is that gender inequalities are influenced primarily by the comprehensivene ss of the overall wage protection system in a country and by the extent of gender segregation. Gender discrimination in earnings is compared in Wrest Germany, the Netherlands and Great Britain using 1989 ISSP data. Human capi tal earnings functions for married males and married females are estimated. Discrimination is measured using standard decomposition techniques. Earnin gs discrimination against females in the more comprehensive systems was 37% in West Germany and 39% in the Netherlands, much less than the 61% found f or the less comprehensively regulated Great Britain, the latter figure bein g higher than previous estimates using earlier data. Gender segregation is demonstrated to have contributed to the relative magnitude of discriminatio n in Great Britain. JEL classification: J00.