This paper analyses the gender gap throughout the wage distribution in Spain using data from the ECHP. Quantile regression and panel data techniques are used to estimate wage equations at relevant percentiles in a given representative year (1999), and over time (1994)(1995)(1996)(1997)(1998)(1999)(2000)(2001). In contrast with the steep increasing pattern found in other countries, the flatter evolution of the Spanish gender gap hides an intriguing composition effect when the sample of workers is split by education. For high-educated workers, in line with the conventional glass ceiling hypothesis, the gap increases as we move up the distribution. However, for less-educated workers the gap decreases. This declining pattern is even more acute when we correct for selection and remains similarly shaped when differences in characteristics are accounted for. We label this novel fact as a floor pattern and argue that it can be explained by statistical discrimination exerted by employers in countries where less-educated women have low participation rates. Such a hypothesis is further confirmed when the panel structure of the ECHP is exploited. JEL Classification: J16 and J71.

This paper analyses the gender gap throughout the wage distribution in Spain using data from the ECHP. Quantile regression and panel data techniques are used to estimate wage equations at relevant percentiles in a given representative year (1999), and over time (1994)(1995)(1996)(1997)(1998)(1999)(2000)(2001). In contrast with the steep increasing pattern found in other countries, the flatter evolution of the Spanish gender gap hides an intriguing composition effect when the sample of workers is split by education. For high-educated workers, in line with the conventional glass ceiling hypothesis, the gap increases as we move up the distribution. However, for less-educated workers the gap decreases. This declining pattern is even more acute when we correct for selection and remains similarly shaped when differences in characteristics are accounted for. We label this novel fact as a floor pattern and argue that it can be explained by statistical discrimination exerted by employers in countries where less-educated women have low participation rates. Such a hypothesis is further confirmed when the panel structure of the ECHP is exploited. JEL Classification: J16 and J71.

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