The Intergenerational Transmission of Occupational Preferences, Segregation, and Wage Inequality - Empirical Evidence from Europe and the United States

Abstract

Based on longitudinal data (CNEF 1980-2010) the paper analyzes the structuring effects of individual and family background characteristics on occupational preferences, and the influence of occupational segregation on gender wage differentials in Germany, Great Britain, and the United States. Notwithstanding the country differences concerning welfare state regimes, institutional settings of the labor markets, and family role patterns, the results confirm the hypotheses of the intergenerational transmission of occupational status, and occupational segregation. The decomposition analysis shows that gender wage differentials are mainly determined by structural differences in the occupational distribution.