Scientific Journal Article
Workplace volatility and gender inequality: a comparison of the Netherlands and South Korea
Socio-Economic Review
2022
Gender
Workplace inequality

Abstract

Workplaces have become more unstable in recent decades, but how such instability shapes categorical inequalities remains little understood. This study explores how the rise of employment precarity, re-conceptualized as an attribute of workplaces, affects gender inequality. We argue that gender inequality increases in volatile workplaces where employee tenure is short and turnover is common. In such workplaces, gender stereotyping and opportunity hoarding by men may become prevalent, because members have little incentive to acquire individualized information about each other and those who are not satisfied with unequal distribution of rewards simply leave rather than raising their voice. To test our argument, we analyze the effect of workplace volatility on the gender-wage gap, using employer–employee linked data from two separate national contexts: South Korea and the Netherlands. Leveraging on the different institutional contexts of the two countries, we also examine the moderating roles of unionization and public sector employment. Our theory and empirical findings contribute to our understanding of the workplace-level mechanisms of inequality, especially in the context of recent structural changes in the labor market.

Contributors

Eunmi Mun
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Zoltán Lippényi
University of Groningen

Other Contributors

Key Findings

Segregation of workers with immigrant backgrounds into lower-paying jobs accounts for about three-quarters of overall immigrant–native earnings differences in Europe and North-America