Trade union and gender wage gap: Evidence from China

This study is the first to explore the effects of trade unions on the gender wage gap in China. It uses the national longitudinal survey data of 2014-2020 to address endogeneity issues. The results demonstrate that the union wage premiums are higher for women than for men, while the probability of obtaining a union membership are lesser for women than for men. The decomposition results indicate that discrimination against women in non-union member groups is the primary factor contributing to the gender wage gap; further, the discrimination in obtaining union membership also widens the wage gap in China.