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on Gender |
| By: | Mary Ann Bronson (Department of Economics, Georgetown University); Peter Skogman Thoursie (Department of Economics, Stockholm University) |
| Abstract: | Why do women's wages grow more slowly than men's? Theory indicates that wages grow over the lifecycle as workers progress up an internal "career ladder," and as they switch firms and move up the "job ladder" to higher-paying firms. In this paper, we use employer-employee linked data from Sweden to decompose cumulative wage growth of men and women at each age into wage gains associated with (1) firm changes, (2) large discrete wage gains relative to one's co-workers -- which we call promotions -- and (3) interim (non-promotion) growth. While women switch firms at almost identical rates as men over the lifecycle, they have substantially lower promotion rates at all ages. Though relatively rare, promotions are the largest driver of wage growth by 45 for both men and women. Gender differences in promotion-related growth account for around 73 to 83% of the differences in lifecycle wage growth of college-educated men and women from ages 25 to 45. Differences in wage growth associated with firm changes account for 28%, while interim, non-promotion growth is slightly higher for women. Gender differences in sorting across firms with steeper vs. flatter wage structures explain only about 10% of differences in promotion probability. Lastly, we study hours worked and the evolution of the promotion gap with time to first birth. We use our findings to explain why childbirth penalties for women are so large, immediate and persistent; why gender wage differentials vary across professions; and what contributes to gender differences in estimated firm wage premiums. |
| Keywords: | Gender Wage Differentials, Job Ladders, Career Ladders, Promotions. |
| JEL: | J16 J31 |
| Date: | 2017–10–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:geo:guwopa:gueconwpa~17-17-06&r=gen |
| By: | Viktor Bozhinov (Johannes Gutenberg-University Mainz, Germany); Christopher Koch (Johannes Gutenberg-University Mainz, Germany); Thorsten Schank (Johannes Gutenberg-University Mainz, Germany) |
| Abstract: | In Germany, an intensive public debate about increasing female participation in leadership positions started in 2009 and proceeded until the beginning of 2015, when the German parliament enacted a board gender quota. In that period, the share of women on supervisory boards for 111 German publicly listedand fully codetermined companies (i.e. those which are affected by the quota law) more than doubled from 10.6 percent in 2009 to 22.6 percent in 2015. In 2016, the first year when the law was effective,the female share increased again by 4.5 percentage points. Using a hand-collected dataset, we investigate whether the rise in female board representation was accompanied by a change in gender differences in board member characteristics and board involvement. We do not find evidence for the “Golden Skirts” phenomenon, i.e., the rise in the female share was not achieved via a few female directors holding multiple board memberships. After controlling for firm heterogeneity, the remuneration of female shareholder (employee) representatives is about 16 (9) percent lower than for males. We interpret this as an overall indication that women are not only underrepresented in German supervisory boards,they are even more underrepresented in importantboard positions. Indeed, women are less likely to become a chairman and are less often assigned to board committees (except for the nominating committee). Moreover, in 2016 the disadvantage of women (as compared to men) to obtain a committee membership is even larger than in 2009. |
| Keywords: | gender diversity, women on boards, gender quota, board remuneration, committee membership |
| Date: | 2017–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:jgu:wpaper:1717&r=gen |
| By: | Eva Ranehill; Roberto A. Weber |
| Abstract: | Many studies document systematic gender differences in a variety of important economic preferences, such as risk-taking, competition and pro-sociality. One potential implication of this literature is that increased female representation in decision-making bodies may significantly alter organizational and policy outcomes. However, research has yet to establish a direct connection from gender differences in simple economic choice tasks, to voting over policy and to the resulting outcomes. We conduct a laboratory experiment to provide a test of such a connection. In small laboratory “societies,” people repeatedly vote for a redistribution policy and engage in a real-effort production task. Women persistently vote for more egalitarian redistribution. This gender difference is large relative to other voting differences based on observable characteristics and is partly explained by gender gaps in preferences and beliefs. Gender voting gaps persist with experience and in environments with varying degrees of risk. We also observe policy differences between male- and female-controlled groups, though these are considerably smaller than the mean individual differences—a natural consequence of the aggregation of individual preferences into collective outcomes. Thus, we provide evidence for why substantial and robust gender differences in preferences may often fail to translate into differential policy outcomes with increased female representation in policymaking. |
| Keywords: | Gender differences, risk, altruism, redistributive preferences, experiment |
| JEL: | C91 C92 J16 H23 |
| Date: | 2017–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zur:econwp:271&r=gen |
| By: | Shuwen Li (Interdisciplinary Center for Economic Science and Department of Economics, George Mason University); Xiandong Qin (Department of Applied Economics, Shanghai Jiao Tong University); Daniel Houser (Interdisciplinary Center for Economic Science and Department of Economics, George Mason University) |
| Abstract: | We report results from a replication of Solnick (2001), which finds using an ultimatum game that, in relation to males, more is demanded from female proposers and less is offered to female responders. We conduct Solnick’s (2001) game using participants from a large US university and a large Chinese university. We find little evidence of gender differences across proposer and responder decisions in both locations. We do however find that, in comparison to Chinese participants, US proposers are more generous, while US responders are more demanding. |
| Keywords: | gender differences, cultural differences, laboratory experiment, ultimatum game, bargaining |
| JEL: | C78 C92 J16 Z10 |
| Date: | 2017–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:gms:wpaper:1064&r=gen |
| By: | Carlos Cueva Herrero (Dpto. Análisis Económico Aplicado); Iñigo Iturbe-Ormaetxe Kortajarene (Universidad de Alicante); Giovanni Ponti (Universidad de Alicante); Josefa Tomás Lucas (Universidad de Alicante) |
| Abstract: | The fact that men trade more than women in financial markets has been attributed to men’s overconfidence. However, evidence supporting this view is only indirect. We directly test this conjecture experimentally, by measuring confidence using monetary incentives before participants trade in a simulated market. We find that men are more confident and trade more than women, but we do not find that the difference in confidence explains the gender gap in trading activity. We explore alternative candidate channels such as risk aversion, financial literacy or competitiveness but find that these factors are also unlikely to play a role. |
| Keywords: | Behavioral Finance, Overconfidence, Overtrading |
| JEL: | C91 D70 D81 D91 |
| Date: | 2017–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ivi:wpasad:2017-06&r=gen |
| By: | Ulf Zölitz; Jan Feld |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates how the peer gender composition in university affects students' major choices and labor market outcomes. Women who are randomly assigned to more female peers become less likely to choose male-dominated majors, they end up in jobs where they work fewer hours and their wage grows at a slower rate. Men become more likely to choose male-dominated majors after having had more female peers, although their labor market outcomes are not affected. Our results suggest that the increasing female university enrolment over recent decades has paradoxically contributed to the occupational segregation among university graduates that persists in today’s labor market. |
| Keywords: | Peer effects, major choice, gender composition |
| JEL: | I21 I24 J24 |
| Date: | 2017–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zur:econwp:270&r=gen |
| By: | Pouirkèta Rita Nikiema |
| Abstract: | Food for Education (FFE) programmes have been implemented in developing countries since the 1960s. This paper examines the impact of the Catholic Relief Services (CRS) school feeding programme on pupils’ attendance and girls’ enrolment rate within primary schools in northern Burkina Faso. Using difference-in-difference (DID) estimation with the data set on the Beoog Biiga programme, we find that take-home rations (THRs) increased school attendance for both boys and girls. Moreover, the findings show that girls’ enrolment rate within schools increased by 3.2 per cent. This is driven by the increase in the number of newly enrolled girls compared with boys. We conclude that THRs have the potential to increase girls’ educational attainment and gender equality within schools. |
| Date: | 2017 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unu:wpaper:wp2017-182&r=gen |
| By: | Yahmed, Sarra Ben |
| Abstract: | I introduce taste-based discrimination in a trade model with imperfect competition and provide an explanation for the heterogeneous effects of international trade on the gender wage gap within sectors. Firms operate in an oligopoly where prejudiced employers can use their rents to pay men a premium in line with Becker's theory. On one hand, import competition reduces local rents and with them the average gender wage gap in sectors that were sheltered from competition prior to trade liberalization. On the other hand, easier access to foreign markets can increase domestic firms' profits and enable discriminatory firms to maintain wage gaps. Evidence from the Uruguayan trade liberalisation supports the empirical relevance of the taste-based discrimination mechanism at the sectoral level. |
| Keywords: | gender wage gap,employer taste-based discrimination,international trade,imperfect competition |
| JEL: | F16 J31 J7 L13 |
| Date: | 2017 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:zewdip:17047&r=gen |
| By: | Hendrik van Broekhuizen (Research on Socioeconomic Policy (RESEP), Department of Economics, Stellenbosch University); Nic Spaull (Research on Socioeconomic Policy (RESEP), Department of Economics, Stellenbosch University) |
| Abstract: | In this paper we use population-wide panel data to follow every South African student from the 2008 cohort as they enter into and progress through university, following them for six years (N=112,402). We find indisputable evidence of a large female advantage that continues to grow at each hurdle of the higher education process. To be specific, relative to their male counterparts we find 27% more females who qualified for university, 34% more who enroll in university, 56% more who complete any undergraduate qualification and 66% more who attain a bachelor’s degree. This despite there being roughly equal numbers of boys and girls at the start of school. We show that this female advantage remains after controlling for school-level performance, and exists for all subgroups of race, age, socioeconomic status, and province of origin. We examine 19 fields of study and find that females are significantly more likely to get a degree in 12 of the 19 fields (often by substantial margins), and are significantly less likely to get a degree in five of the 19 fields. However, this is almost entirely because they do not access these traditionally ‘male’ programs rather than due to lower completion rates. Irrespective of field of study, race, age, socioeconomic status or location, females are always and everywhere 20% less likely to dropout than their male counterparts (including in traditionally ‘male’ fields like Engineering and Computer Science). Building on the idea of the ‘Matthew Effect’ in reading (the rich get richer), we present evidence of a gendered version of this phenomenon in higher education; what we call the ‘Martha Effect’. |
| Keywords: | Higher education, matric, gender, female advantage |
| JEL: | I21 I23 I24 J16 |
| Date: | 2017 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sza:wpaper:wpapers290&r=gen |