ABSTRACT
Jacob Mincer and Solomon Polachek have done especially important work in highlighting the role of labor market experience in explaining the gender pay gap. Thus gender differences in education levels have never explained a large portion of the overall gender pay gap; most recently, in some samples gender differences in years of schooling favor women. Nonetheless, on average, women have less work experience than men and that difference in qualifications is quantitatively important in explaining the gender pay gap. Such empirical studies provide evidence consistent with both human capital differences and labor market discrimination in explaining the gender pay gap. So far, in considering the effects of changes in wage structure and rising wage inequality on the gender pay gap, we have assumed that estimates of changing labor market returns are a useful indicator of the market rewards facing both men and women.
