The role of productivity differences in the gender wage gap

The gender wage gap has narrowed over the last few decades. However, a significant gap remains in most Western countries, and it tends to increase after women have had their first child. This project investigates the causes of the remaining wage gap, focusing on the role of productivity differences between men and women. We measure productivity among male and female caseworkers at the Swedish Public Employment Service. We measure productivity in several ways, for instance, by analysing how quickly the caseworkers’ clients return to work. This allows us to examine to what extent potential productivity differences between genders can explain the wage gap. We also study whether the wage gap and the productivity differences are linked to other factors such as working hours, experience, and leave of absence. The project utilises register data from the Swedish Public Employment Service and Statistics Sweden.