An empirical analysis of the gender earnings gap between the public and private sectors in Korea: A comparative study with the US

Abstract

This paper conducts an empirical analysis of the gender earnings gap in the public and private sectors by comparing the cases in Korea with those in the US. Using comparable data sets by the Panel Study of Income Dynamics for the US and the Korean Income Panel Study for Korea, this study decomposes the gender earnings gap in order to identify the causal factors. One of the main factors attributable to a much lower gender earnings gap found in the Korean public sector is the self-selection by female workers with high levels of human capital who decide to enter the public sector. Another factor is the differing levels of efforts made by institutions, in areas such as wage structure, the enforcement of gender equality related laws, and the provision of paid family leave, which may affect differently the gender earnings gap in the public and private sector jobs. The empirical results of this study suggest that the differing levels of institutional efforts lower the gender earnings gap within the Korean public sector.