Are civil servants paid too much? - A distributional analysis of the public-private wage gap in Switzerland

This study investigates the public-private sector wage gap in Switzerland with a special focus on distributional aspects. Using data from the Swiss Labour Force Survey the study finds that the wage structure differs between the sectors. The public sector guarantees a higher base salary while the private sector rewards education and experience more. This is consistent with the more compressed wage distribution in the public sector. The wage gap and its unexplained part are falling over the range of wages. At the low end of wages public sector workers a paid an unexplained premium. At high wages differences in characteristics explain more than the raw wage gap, suggesting that there is an unexplained premium for working in the private sector.