Gender-specific Wage Gaps in Austria

Drawing on the data of the EU-SILC 2004-2006, this article analyses wage differences between women and men in Austria. The importance of factors that influence wage differences is quantified by estimating wage regressions. Among employees working full time, women earn on average 22 percent less than men. When including education and experience in the wage regressions the gap declines to 21 percent. Other variables such as family status, vertical and horizontal segregation in the labour market bring the figure down to 12 percent. The larger part of the mean wage gap cannot be explained by observable characteristics. Depending on the econometric specification the unexplained part of the wage gap is between 54 and 97 percent.