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Are Women Doing It For Themselves? Gender Segregation and the Gender Wage Gap

Author

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  • Theodoropoulos, Nikolaos

    (University of Cyprus)

  • Forth, John

    (Cass Business School)

  • Bryson, Alex

    (University College London)

Abstract

Using matched employer-employee data from the 2004 and 2011 Workplace Employment Relations Surveys (WERS) for Britain we find a raw gender wage gap (GWG) in hourly wages of around 0.18-0.21 log points. The regression-adjusted gap is around half that. However, the GWG declines substantially with the increasing share of female managers in the workplace. The gap closes because women's wages rise with the share female managers in the workplace while men's wages fall. Panel and instrumental variables estimates suggest the share of female managers in the workplace has a causal impact in reducing the GWG. The role of female managers in closing the GWG is more pronounced when employees are paid for performance, consistent with the proposition that women are more likely to be paid equitably when managers have discretion in the way they reward performance and those managers are women. These findings suggest a stronger presence of women in managerial positions can help tackle the GWG.

Suggested Citation

  • Theodoropoulos, Nikolaos & Forth, John & Bryson, Alex, 2019. "Are Women Doing It For Themselves? Gender Segregation and the Gender Wage Gap," IZA Discussion Papers 12657, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp12657
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    2. Neyer, Ulrike & Stempel, Daniel, 2021. "Gender discrimination, inflation, and the business cycle," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    performance pay; female managers; gender wage gap;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials
    • M52 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Personnel Economics - - - Compensation and Compensation Methods and Their Effects
    • M54 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Personnel Economics - - - Labor Management

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