Gender Differences in Occupational Labor Market Structure

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Abstract
This research attempts to assess the validity of occupational labor market typologies utilized in the extant theoretical and empirical literature. Whereas previous studies only presume the general form and composition of occupational labor markets, the present study generates an empirically based typology using cluster analytic techniques. Analyses of occupational characteristics from 1970 U.S. Census Bureau data for males and females indicates occupational labor markets may be more differentiated and complex than suggested in the dual labor market literature. The findings also indicate that previous occupational labor market classification schemes have misspecified the correct labor market location of many detailed occupations. Additional analyses indicate the existence of separate and distinct occupational labor markets for males and females rather than the single isomorphic occupational structure commonly assumed in the literature.