BARGAIN, Olivier; ETIENNE, Audrey; MELLY, Blaise

doi:10.1093/ej/ueaf069

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BARGAIN, Olivier

Bordeaux Sciences Economiques [BSE]

ETIENNE, Audrey

MELLY, Blaise

Langue

Article de revue

Ce document a été publié dans

The Economic Journal. 2025-08-07

Résumé en anglais

Abstract We exploit an exceptionally long administrative panel dataset (1988-2019) for France to estimate the unconditional quantile effects of public sector employment, while accounting for individual fixed effects. We find that the public sector wage gap is broadly negative across the whole wage distribution after controlling for observable and unobservable heterogeneity. The public sector compresses the wage distribution, with particularly large wage penalties observed at the top. This compression effect is partly concealed by the incidental parameter bias, which we correct using a split-panel jackknife method. We document how a combination of political and business cycles aligns with the evolution of the wage gap over the 32-year period. Despite offering lower pay, the public sector attracts individuals with, on average, better observed and unobserved skills. However, this skill gap narrows significantly over time and vanishes among top earners, calling for policies to restore the attractiveness of public sector management careers.< Réduire

Mots clés en anglais

Public sector wage gap

Unconditional quantile effects

Fixed effects

Incidental parameter bias

Jackknife

Quantile regression

URI

https://oskar-bordeaux.fr/handle/20.500.12278/207875

DOI

http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/ej/ueaf069

Project ANR

IdEx Bordeaux - ANR-10-IDEX-0003-02/10-IDEX-0003

Unités de recherche

Bordeaux Sciences Economiques / Bordeaux School of Economics (BSE) - UMR 6060