The gender wage gap across the wage distribution in the private and public sectors in Sweden

Abstract

This study examines gender wage differentials across the wage distribution in the Swedish private and public sectors using quantile regression. There is a glass ceiling effect for women in both the private and the public sectors in Sweden. Although this is true for both sectors, it is especially pronounced in the public sector. The gender wage differentials across the whole distribution in the private sector are lower in Sweden than in the USA and in 11 European countries, whereas the opposite can be said about the public sector; here the gap is higher across the entire distribution in Sweden.

Acknowledgements

We thank Lennart Flood for detailed comments on an earlier version of this article. Financial support from the Jan Wallander and Tom Hedelius Foundation for Research in Economics is gratefully acknowledged.