Is gender pay discrimination on the wane? Evidence from panel data, 1968-1989

Previous studies of the gender pay gap in the United States have found a narrowing of that gap in the past two decades, but have differed substantially in the reported magnitude of that change. This study calculates gender earnings differences using Panel Study of Income Dynamics data for 1968-89, a longer time series than has been examined by any similar study. It also employs improved statistical techniques, notably an adjustment for selection bias and a recently recommended modification of the most commonly used decomposition technique. The author finds a significant decline both in the portion of the differential due to observed differences between men's and women's characteristics' and in the ''unexplained'' component, which is often attributed to discrimination. The results of one analysis show that over the 1968-89 period the gender pay gap narrowed to as little as 47%.