The Part-Time Wage Gap in Norway: How Large is It Really?

Abstract

Norwegian working-life legislation has strict rules against discrimination between full-time and part-time work. Partly as a consequence of this, a large proportion of Norwegian women work part-time. The purpose of this paper is to establish whether there are systematic differences between part-time and full-time workers regarding the selection process and earnings capacity. We find wage differences between part-time and full-time workers are small in Norway, and there is no evidence of systematic selection bias. The results may be explained by some features of the Norwegian labour market, including, equal rights for part-time workers, strict rules against the discrimination of part-time workers, and a generous family policy enabling women to combine work and family life.