The gender pay implications of institutional and organisational wage-setting practices in Banking – a case study of Argentina and Chile

Abstract

This research explores the extent to which the interaction among payment systems and institutional arrangements together with internal and external labour market (ELM) dynamics influence gender pay processes and career progress for men and women graduates in the banking sectors of Argentina and Chile. The research follows a qualitative methods approach for the banking sector. The more inclusive Argentinian industrial relations system, reinforced by above-market collective pay agreements in banking and the economic instability of recent years, has restricted inter-firm mobility and generated a more gender-neutral distributional pay effect for graduates. By contrast, the more decentralised and individually-driven Chilean wage-setting system incentivises Chilean graduates to be more reactive to ELM opportunities to improve their wages. However, this greater mobility tends to benefit more men than women graduates because women tend to be more attached to their organisations. They also find their wage bargaining position weakened as a result of gender stereotyping, which reflects employer prejudices constructed in reaction to family support policies that are more generous than those in Argentina. Finally, the research argues that the more inclusive Argentinian industrial relations system limits gender bias in pay by providing more formalisation, centralisation and transparency in pay decisions compared to the more discretionally-driven decisions of the Chilean HRM system.