Firm-Specific Gender and Ethnicity Pay Differentials in Britain

Abstract

Using matched employer-employee data we examine firm-specific gender and ethnicity pay differentials in Britain. We estimate an econometric earnings model using the partially-observed pay variable provided in the data and test the normality assumption that underlies the usual interval regression technique. We then estimate alternative specifications allowing for firm-specific random effects, using a semi-parametric finite mixture estimator. The empirical estimation reveals a 22% (13%) weekly (hourly) gender pay gap and a 28% (19%) weekly (hourly) pay race gap. Strikingly, although significant and sizeable the firm-specific effects are not correlated with other variables that may act as indirect indicators of pay differentialsMatched employer-employee data, pay differentials, random effects, semi-parametric finite mixture estimator.