Does the Market for Women's Labor Need Fixing?

Abstract

I will start by reviewing the evidence that discrimination against women is currently serious and has important consequences for their pay and status. Some of this evidence is of a variety that economists do not commonly examine or take account of. On the assumption that at least some readers will agree that some remedies might be called for, I go on to look at the virtues and defects of the remedies most commonly proposed—affirmative action and administered wage realignment under the rubric of “pay equity” or “comparable worth.”