by Arup Banerjee
Abstract
In communist Europe, households needed at least two breadwinners to maintain a
stable household income. Due to the relatively equal wage rate between men and women,
there was a small, if any, wage gap between the two genders. Women and men chose
different industries to work in due to their physical and mental capabilities, which most
times would segregate the workforce based on genderTthus, occupational segregation.
After the fall of communism, these economies transitioned to a market based one. In this
transition, wages become less standard and the wage gap between men and women
became apparent. In some transition economies, occupational segregation has been
shown to account for some of this gap. This study conducts an analysis of Slovenia’s
gender wage gap. To date, there have been few studies on the late transition economies
and none with a focus on Slovenia. Using the Oaxaca-Blinder regression analysis of wage
differentials, it studies Slovenia’s economy using a sample from the Statistical Register,
which contains 53,494 persons from 2001. The study shows that in Slovenia while there
is occupational segregation amongst most industries, this phenomenon does not
significantly account for any proportion of the overall gender wage gap.
Professor Peter Arcidiacono, Faculty Advisor
JEL Codes: J16, O52,
