Van Phan thi Hong, Uwe Blien (p)

Michaela Fuchs

It is instructive to see whether the labour market in developing countries shows similar properties as it does in the developed countries or whether it is characterised by traditional or in some countries by transitional features. Therefore, in this paper it is tested whether there is a “wage curve” in Vietnam, whose existence has been confirmed for a number of western countries. A wage curve describes the reaction of wages to regional unemployment. For Vietnam we find with a common two-step procedure that a doubling of the unemploy-ment rate implies a wage reduction of up to 8 % (ceteris paribus). Regressions with individ-ual data show, that the effect is larger in the informal than in the formal sector of the econ-omy.
As far as we know this is the first time a wage curve is found for a Southeast- or South-Asian country. This is due to the availability of an excellent data base for Vietnam.

Michaela Fuchs (p), Anja Rossen, Antje Weyh, Gabriele Wydra-Somaggio

Uwe Blien

Among the manifold aspects of why women earn less than men, the question why the gender pay gap (GPG) varies considerably within a country has received very little attention so far. This paper aims to shed light on the determinants of the large regional disparities in the GPG within Germany that encompass a range between 39 % and -16 %. Besides providing detailed descriptive evidence for the NUTS3-regions, we quantify the impact of region-specific characteristics in addition to factors related to the individual or the occupation, plant, or sector affiliation. Our decomposition approach rests on a comprehensive data set encompassing all employees liable to social security contributions in the year 2015. First results confirm that regional specifics are important determinants of the spatial variation in the GPG. The regional economic structure picks up the gender-specific occupational choices, with women tending to work in the services sector and men in manufacturing. Especially in the East German regions, the services sector provides relatively well-paid jobs mainly for women. The local plant structure that includes the size of plants as well as the degree of specialization also plays a role. The GPG increases along with the average plant size in a region. Furthermore, it is higher in regions with higher overall wages and lower in regions with high unemployment.