Digitalization: A curse or a blessing for the gender pay gap?

Cooperation partner in Graz: Ao. Univ.-Prof. Dr. Margareta Kreimer, Institute of Economics
Junior Fellow: Luise Wimmler, MSc

Incoming Senior Fellow: Mag. Dr. Katharina Mader, Institute for Heterodox Economics, Vienna University of Economics and Business
Incoming Junior Fellow: Laura Zilian, BSc MSc. and Stella Zilian, B.A. (Econ.) M.A. (Econ.) (WU Vienna)

Period: October 2020 to September 2021
Symposium: June 2021

Content:

Does digitalization bring gender equality? Developments in women's wages and the gender pay gap in Austria

The structural downward pressure on wages in typical female sectors with little or no substitutability potential will be investigated, traced historically and estimated for the future. The main research questions are:
- What indirect effects of digitalization on wages can be seen in industries that cannot be automated (as much)?
- How have typical women's wages changed and how will they develop?
- What explanations can be found for the downward pressure on these wages?
In addition, research will be carried out into how much danger or potential digitalization holds for women and their wages and what guidelines for action can be derived from this for politicians, social partners and trade unions.

Data from the OECD's PIAAC will be combined with studies on automation probabilities (Frey and Osbourne 2013, 2017; based on Autor et al 2003;
similar to Nagl et al. 2017) in order to work out the substitutability of occupations for Austria. For typical female occupations, which are expected to be less affected by digitalization, the development of women's wages is examined using EU-SILC (Community Statistics on Income and Living Conditions) data. In a further step, future employment and wage trends are estimated. To this end, various scenarios are modeled to outline possible development paths for wages and employment in typical female sectors.

The fellowsip project builds on a project financed by the Digitalization Fund Work 4.0 of the Vienna Chamber of Labour (more information here).

 

Events: