In this context, low-wage public servants earn a higher wage “premium” (i.e. ceteris paribus are better paid) relative to their skills compared to higher-wage counterparts (Giordano et al., Papapetrou (2006) concludes that earnings differentials in the low quintiles cannot be attributed to individual characteristics, whereas at the highest quintiles, pay differentials reflect differences in the employee’s skills. Fournier and Koske (2012) conclude, in particular, that a (marginal) rise in public employment would tend to raise earnings at the lower end of the distribution, while leaving those at the top broadly unchanged, thereby helping to reduce overall inequality (Figure 2.9). It should be noted that these are partial equilibrium effects, ignoring possible changes in the relative earnings of the public and private sector that would result from such shift.