Are women paid less than men when they hold comparable jobs? Is there gender bias in the way wages are set? Or can wage differences between men and women be explained by legitimate market forces? Pay Equity: Empirical Inquiries answers these questions in 10 original research papers.


The papers explore race- and gender-based differences in wages, at the level both of individuals and of occupations. They also assess the effects of the implementation of comparable worth plans for private firms, states, and—on an international level—for Australia, Great Britain, and the United States.

Table of Contents


Front Matter
Pay Equity: Assessing the Issues
Part I. Gender Differences in Wages: Wage Determination for Individuals
1. Salaries, Salary Growth, and Promotions of Men and Women in a Large, Private Firm
2. Measuring the Effect of Occupational Sex and Race Composition on Earnings
3. Effects of Excess Supply on the Wage Rates of Young Women
4. The Effects of Sex-Role-Related Factors in Occupational Choice and Salary
Part II. Jobs and Occupations as the Unit of Analysis
5. Pay the Man: Effects of Demographic Composition of Prescribed Wage Rates in the California Civil Service
6. Comparable Worth, Occupational Labor Markets, and Occupational Earnings: Results from the 1980 Census
7. Occupational Segregation, Compensating Differentials, and Comparable Worth
Part III. Comparable Worth Implementations
8. Comparable Worth and the Structure of Earnings: The Iowa Case
9. The Impact of Pay Equity on Public Employees: State of Minnesota Employees
10. Women
Biographical Sketches of Contributors
Index