Regional Inequalities in Nineteenth-Century Female Wages: Evidence from Belgium

Abstract

Although recent studies on the geography of the female labor force have highlighted strong spatial variation in women’s labor market participation, little is known about regional female wage inequalities in nineteenth-century industries. An analysis of female regional wage inequality for late-nineteenth-century Belgium, a country known for its early industrialization, finds a positive correlation between female industrial employment and wage levels, underlining the importance of industrial labor demand in shaping the female labor market experience. This finding is augmented by a correlational analysis of various market drivers.