The gender wage gap in the financial industry: Evidence from the interindustry ranking

This study examines the interindustry gender wage gap in Taiwan with a focus on the financial industry, using individual level data from the 1978-2013 Manpower Utilization Survey. We consider this issue from two perspectives. First, by decomposing, examining, and breaking down the overall gender wage gap, we fend that 2-14% of the overall gender wage gap during this period can be attributed to workers' industry affiliation. Second, through the analysis of the gender wage gap across industries in Taiwan, we notice that the financial industry is the most monetarily advantageous industry for women during the past 15 years based on the interindustry ranking approach. The wage level for women in the financial industry was only 3-20% below that of men, compared to 15-93% for women in the mining industry. A cross country comparison with the results from the literature suggests that the range of the interindustry gender wage gap in Taiwan is larger than that in the U.S. The financial industry is more likely to rank the highest (with a smaller gender wage gap) in Taiwan, while ranking the lowest in the U.S. labor market.