The aim of this thesis is to revisit the “conventional” economic conception of gender discrimination. The existence of “discriminatory barriers” between men and women in the labour market calls for a reconsideration of the measure of the so-called “pure” wage discrimination. We argue that it is not possible to give an unambiguous definition of discrimination in the market place without getting involved in philosophical issues related to theories of justice. The political philosophies of justice develop different definitions of discrimination that require to use different methodological choices in the measure of gender inequalities. The assumption of a pluralist conception of the discrimination questions the consensual conception of equal opportunity, the marginal theory of the fair income distribution, and the “best” practice of measure of gender discrimination. We first introduce a pluralist conception of gender discrimination linking political philosophies of gender justice, economic theories of discrimination and statistical methodologies of measure of unequal treatment in the labour market. We then propose econometrical measures of discriminatory barriers to the access to employment stability, full-time jobs, and hierarchical responsibilities. This focus on discriminatory barriers suggests alternative empirical analysis of vertical segregation, wage discrimination and affirmative action in employment policies.
