Wages,gender and industrial structure in New Zealand

A variant of shift‐share analysis is applied to manufacturing wages data for 22 districts in New Zealand for 1980 and 1984, to test, via three models, the explanatory power of components representing the gender split and industrial structure of the workforce separately and in combination. These first three components provide a surprisingly low level of explanation in many districts, and, overall, their national performance has declined over time. The consequent rise of a fourth, ‘residual’ element is examined in more detail, and suggestions offered for its observed geography.