This paper draws upon the 1991 Taiwan Social Change Survey to study the extent to which the gender income gap in Taiwan is due to the gender difference in work experience. To avoid important confounding influences, the analysis also incorporates major alternative hypotheses for this gender income gap. The central findings are:
1.(a) Contrary to theoretical expectations, the gender gap in Taiwan is not mainly due to gender differences in labor force experience. Nor is it likely due to gender differences in schooling, selectivity bias, or even statistical discrimination that is a major explanation of the gender wage gap in the United States.
2.(b) A large part of the gender gap appears to have resulted from gender differences in family role constraints.
As a result, women's progress in labor force participation and work experience is unlikely to translate into any sharp reduction in the gender income gap. Large reductions in the gender gap in Taiwan apparently require a more equal sharing of family responsibilities by both men and women.