Employment protection and wage inequality within education groups in Europe

In this paper we employ EU-Silc microdata for 19 EU member countries in 2007 and 2012 to provide evidence on hourly wage disparities within high-, medium- and low-educated workers. Using quantile regression approaches, we look at individual and institutional determinants of earnings inequality within each cohort and across the wage distribution. Then, by focusing on the employment status (temporary/permanent) of workers, we find that remarkable differences exist in the role played by employment protection of temporary and regular jobs in shaping wage levels, depending on the group of countries, education groups and year considered, with important and group-specific policy implications.