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In this paper we investigate gender wage disparities in 25 EU countries before and after the crisis, focusing on the role employment protection legislation played in shaping the gap across the wage distribution. Results of quantile regressions reveal a remarkable cross-country diversity in the size of the gap and confirm the widespread existence of glass-ceiling effects. Stricter rules for temporary contracts mitigate the gender gap, especially at the top of the distribution; stronger protection for permanent workers is found to increase the gap at the bottom of the distribution and to decrease it at the middle and at the top. Key words: Gender wage gap, Employment protection, Quantile regression, EU.JEL: J16, J31, J71.

In this paper we investigate gender wage disparities in 25 EU countries before and after the crisis, focusing on the role employment protection legislation played in shaping the gap across the wage distribution. Results of quantile regressions reveal a remarkable cross-country diversity in the size of the gap and confirm the widespread existence of glass-ceiling effects. Stricter rules for temporary contracts mitigate the gender gap, especially at the top of the distribution; stronger protection for permanent workers is found to increase the gap at the bottom of the distribution and to decrease it at the middle and at the top.

Foreword-- Jens Holscher Introduction-- Cristiano Perugini and Fabrizio Pompei 1. Income Distribution During and After Transition: a Conceptual Framework-- Cristiano Perugini and Fabrizio Pompei PART I: PERSONAL AND FUNCTIONAL INCOME DISTRIBUTION PATTERNS DURING TRANSITION 2. The Drivers of Personal Income Inequality in Transition and the Role of Reform Approaches-- David Aristei and Cristiano Perugini 3. Functional Income Distribution in European Transition Countries-- Ana Rincon-Aznar, Francesco Venturini, Michela Vecchi 4. Emigration, Employment and Inequality in Post-Communist Countries-- Cristiano Perugini and Fabrizio Pompei PART II: MICROECONOMICS ANALYSIS OF INCOME DISTRIBUTIONS AND THE ROLE OF INSTITUTIONAL SETTINGS 5. Income Mobility in the New EU Member States-- David Aristei and Cristiano Perugini 6. Earnings Inequality and Job Positions across Post-Communist European Economies-- Cristiano Perugini and Fabrizio Pompei 7. Wage Inequality Between and Within Education Levels in Transition Countries-- Cristiano Perugini and Fabrizio Pompei 8. Gender Earnings Inequality in the New EU Member States-- Cristiano Perugini and Ekaterina Selezneva 9. Gender Wage Inequality in the Western Balkans-- Marko Vladisavljevic, Sonja Avlijas and Suncica Vujic PART III: REDISTRIBUTIVE PREFERENCES AND ARRANGEMENTS 10. The Solidarity Principle in the New EU Member States-- Valentina Colcelli 11. Social Preferences for Redistribution in Central Eastern Europe and in the Baltic Countries-- David Aristei and Cristiano Perugini 12. Welfare and Redistribution in Post-Communist Countries-- Martin Myant and Jan Drahokoupil

The paper investigates empirically how governance institutions mediate the link between financial development and inequality. To this aim, we assemble a dataset of 48 middle- and high-income countries for the period 1996-2014. Results, obtained by means of instrumental variables dynamic panel data models, reveal that financial development is pro-inequality; however, the strength of the relationship is attenuated in contexts with stricter control of corruption, better regulatory quality, political stability and rule of law. Institutional domains less directly related to the market economy ? political voice and accountability and government effectiveness ? do not play any mediating role.

The public health measures implemented by governments to limit the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic will produce significant economic consequences that are likely to exacerbate social and economic inequalities. In this paper we provide a framework to analyse how income inequality, besides other structural and policy-related features, shapes the trade-off between economic lockdown and contagion. We then supply empirical evidence, by means of simulation analysis, on the distributive effects of the lockdown for 31 European countries. Our results confirm that the lockdown is likely to significantly increase inequality and poverty and that the magnitude of the change is larger in more unequal countries. Such a cumulative process shapes a serious challenge for social and economic stability in the most vulnerable countries, which needs adequate policy response. However, the magnitude of the compensating measures is likely to be financially unsustainable, forcing them to lift necessary public health measures prematurely in order to avoid social collapse. This is likely to increase the risk of a new spread of the pandemic that might easily spill over to other countries. A supranational, coordinated health and fiscal policy effort is therefore in the interest of all economies willing to be part of a globalised economy.

AbstractWe study gender pay inequality in ten Central and Eastern EU countries before (2007) and during the economic crisis (2009) using quantile regression methods. The analysis reveals remarkable cross‐country diversity in levels and patterns of the gender gap along the earnings distribution; for the majority of the countries the crisis is associated with declining male/female disparities. We address the role played by labour market institutions in shaping the observed gender pay gap levels and patterns. Labour market deregulation increases gender inequality at the middle and at the top of the pay distribution, but reduces disparities at the bottom. Higher union density and wage coordination reduce the pay gap, with stronger equalizing effects on better‐paid jobs. The crisis seems to weaken the already poor role of institutions in the low‐pay sector.