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It's a woman's world? Occupational structure and the rise of female employment in Germany

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  • Bachmann, Ronald
  • Stepanyan, Gayane
Abstract
We analyse whether the rise in female labour force participation in Germany over the last decades can be explained by technological progress increasing the demand for non-routine social and cognitive skills, traditionally attributed to women. We do so by examining which task groups and occupations drive the increase in the female share and how this is related to women's wages. Our findings show that the share of women indeed rises most strongly in non-routine occupations requiring strong social and cognitive skills. While the female share in high-paid occupations increases over time, the share of women in the upper parts of the overall wage distribution rises much less which implies significant within-occupation gender wage gaps.

Suggested Citation

  • Bachmann, Ronald & Stepanyan, Gayane, 2020. "It's a woman's world? Occupational structure and the rise of female employment in Germany," Ruhr Economic Papers 889, RWI - Leibniz-Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, Ruhr-University Bochum, TU Dortmund University, University of Duisburg-Essen.
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:rwirep:889
    DOI: 10.4419/969730287
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    Cited by:

    1. Bachmann, Ronald & Gonschor, Myrielle, 2022. "Technological progress, occupational structure and gender gaps in the German labour market," Ruhr Economic Papers 955, RWI - Leibniz-Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, Ruhr-University Bochum, TU Dortmund University, University of Duisburg-Essen.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Female labour market participation; occupations; tasks; technological progress;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J21 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Labor Force and Employment, Size, and Structure
    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials
    • O33 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Technological Change: Choices and Consequences; Diffusion Processes

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