The Structure of the Female/Male Wage Differential: Is It Who You Are, What You Do, or Where You Work?

The efficacy of policies to narrow the male/female wage differential depends partly on the size of the portion(s) of the gap targeted. Previous research finds no between-sex wage gap within occupations within employer (job-cell). This is the first study to disentangle segregation by occupation from that based on employer or on job-cell. In five industries, controlling for other forms of segregation, occupational segregation produces a gap of 11 percent (manufacturing) to 26 percent (services). The wage gaps from establishment and job-cell segregation are about 6 percent each. Since comparable worth acts on the occupation and job-cell components, it has a potentially large impact.