France: A limited effect of regions on public wage differentials?

Unlike the private sector, the French public sector is still characterized by a high level of centralization in pay setting. Public services have recently gained more autonomy in personnel management locally. Consequently, the public-private wage gap at the local level may play an increasing role in recruitment policy. Using standard methods of estimation and geographically weighted regressions for 2002, we show that the average public-private wage differential does not differ widely across regions. However, quantile regressions estimated by region reveal that the pattern of public wage premiums varies according to gender and skill.