Sectoral secrets: Exploring macroeconomic roots of sector driven gender wage gaps

Feminist political economists conceptualize capitalism either based on Marxism or Neoliberalism. This conceptualization lacks the notion of capitalist diversity. The latest political economy strand of literature on national growth models considers capitalist diversity. However, growth model theory ignores gender. Theoretically, this paper connects gender disparities to national economic growth models. In particular, it uses the growth model theory to explain wage differentials across sectors which manifest among both, sectoral and gender characteristics. Thereby, it intends to explain a part of the so far unexplained part of gender wage gaps, particularly regarding sectoral segregation. Even though the literature on wage gaps highlights horizontal segregation as a major driver of disparities, existing studies neglect the macro-economic set-up which contributes to sectoral differences. This study intends to fill this gap by explaining gender wage gaps with sectoral segregation mediated by national growth models. Growth model theory emphasizes the role of aggregate demand, in particular, the composition of exports and debt contributing to economic growth. Germany is classified as an export-led growth model, the US as debt-led and Sweden as balanced. Scholars highlight that each growth model has specific key sectors that benefit from higher wages because they contribute directly to productivity growth. In Germany, the manufacturing sector is key. In the US, the FIRE sector is key. In Sweden, the ICT sector produces key products. Men are overrepresented in those key sectors and benefit from higher wages. Price-sensitive exports in Germany require the suppression of domestic wages to stay competitive. Thus, wage differentials between the key sector and other sectors are expected to be higher in Germany than in the US and Sweden where growth is not dependent on price-sensitive export products. Thus, it is hypothesized that in Germany, occupational segregation contributes more to gender wage gaps compared to the US and Sweden. Based on LIS data and macro-economic data, this study combines a comparative case study design with quantitative methods focusing on Germany, Sweden, and the US. It aims at explaining the effect of gender on wage and wage mediated by sectoral segregation. The national growth model serves as a moderator.