1. GENDER PAY GAP IN THE WESTERN BALKAN COUNTRIES: EVIDENCE FROM SERBIA, MONTENEGRO, AND MACEDONIA SUNČICA VUJIĆ, MARKO VLADISAVLJEVIĆ, SONJA AVLIJAŠ & NEVENA IVANOVIĆ Belgrade, February 25 th 2013

2. Project Details  Organisations:  Foundation for the Advancement of Economics (FREN), Belgrade, Serbia  University American College - Skopje (UACS), School of Business Economics and Management (SBEM).  Project duration: 12 months  Starting date: February 2012  Ending date: January 2013  Project website  http://fren.org.rs/genderpaygap http://fren.org.rs/genderpaygap 2

3. Team Members NameAcademic LevelPosition on Project Mihail ArandarenkoProfessor, PhDProject Coordinator Miriam BebloProfessor, PhDProject Mentor Sunčica VujićAssistant Professor, PhDSenior Researcher Sonja AvlijašPhD candidateJunior Researcher Marko VladisavljevićMA/MSc graduateJunior Researcher Nevena IvanovićMPP graduateJunior Researcher 3

4. Project aim  This research examines the incidence and determinants of the gender earnings gap in a sample of Western Balkan countries (Serbia, Montenegro, and Macedonia).  The gender pay gap (GPG) refers to the difference between the wages earned by women and men.  Unadjusted gap – difference between average gross hourly earnings of male and female employees  Adjusted gap – “true” magnitude of the gender wage gap, “cleaned” from the differences in labour market characteristics between employed men and women 4

5. Motivation  Disadvantageous labour market position of women in comparison to men in countries in the Western Balkans  Lower employment and higher inactivity rates of women  High participation of women among unpaid family members  Gender pay gap  The gender gap in earnings is undoubtedly one of the most persistent labour market characteristics ( EU 27 (2010) - 17.5% ).  Current evidence in Western Balkans in recent years has been largely descriptive and does not make a systematic comparison between countries  Differences in GPG trends in the EU and Western Balkan countries 5

6. Questions to be answered  How to explain the gap?  Differences in labour market characteristics... ... and differences in returns to these characteristics Education, Working experience, Occupation, Sector of activity, Ownership, Working contract type, Region  Differences in other characteristics (unobservable) Home and reproductive responsibilities, Effort, Ability  Glass ceiling effect – is it more difficult for women to access the best paid jobs  Differences in legislative framework  What are the implications of our findings for policy makers and what are the future trends of the gap? 6

7. Thank you! 7