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Fluidity in Sexual Identity, Unmeasured Heterogeneity, and the Earnings Effects of Sexual Orientation

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  • Joseph J. Sabia

Abstract

type="main" xml:id="irel12076-abs-0001"> Using data drawn from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, this study (1) examines the sensitivity of the estimated earnings penalty of sexual minority status to family-level unobserved heterogeneity, and (2) explores whether the earnings effects of sexual orientation differ by the degree of fluidity in individuals' self-reported sexual identity over time. Evidence from sibling pairs suggests that unobserved family heterogeneity is not an important source of bias in the estimated relationship between sexual orientation and young adult earnings. I find that gay males and bisexuals earn lower wages than their heterosexual counterparts, while lesbians earn wages that are not significantly different from heterosexual females. Finally, I examine the role of fluidity in sexual orientation over time and find that males who are longer-term gay identifiers earn wages that are 26.4 percent lower than their consistently heterosexual-identifying counterparts.

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  • Joseph J. Sabia, 2015. "Fluidity in Sexual Identity, Unmeasured Heterogeneity, and the Earnings Effects of Sexual Orientation," Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 54(1), pages 33-58, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:indres:v:54:y:2015:i:1:p:33-58
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1111/irel.2014.54.issue-1
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Sabia, Joseph J. & Wooden, Mark, 2015. "Sexual Identity, Earnings, and Labour Market Dynamics: New Evidence from Longitudinal Data in Australia," IZA Discussion Papers 8935, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    2. Das, Tirthatanmoy & Polachek, Solomon, 2017. "Micro Foundations of Earnings Differences," IZA Discussion Papers 10922, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    3. Michael E. Martell & Peyton Nash, 2020. "For Love and Money? Earnings and Marriage Among Same-Sex Couples," Journal of Labor Research, Springer, vol. 41(3), pages 260-294, September.
    4. John Levendis & Aaron Lowen, 2023. "What Same-Sex Adoption Laws Can Tell Us About the Gender Wage Gap in the United States," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 44(2), pages 473-489, June.
    5. Sarzosa, Miguel, 2023. "Sexual Orientation and Labor Market Disparities," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 212(C), pages 723-755.
    6. Nick Drydakis, 2022. "Sexual orientation and earnings: a meta-analysis 2012–2020," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 35(2), pages 409-440, April.
    7. Sean Urwin & Thomas Mason & William Whittaker, 2021. "Do different means of recording sexual orientation affect its relationship with health and wellbeing?," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 30(12), pages 3106-3122, December.
    8. Ian Burn & Michael E. Martell, 2022. "Gender typicality and sexual minority labour market differentials," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 60(4), pages 784-814, December.
    9. Sabia, Joseph J. & Wooden, Mark & Nguyen, Thanh Tam, 2018. "Sexual identity, same-same relationships, and health dynamics: New evidence from Australia," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 30(C), pages 24-36.
    10. Martell, Michael E., 2021. "Labor market differentials estimated with researcher-inferred and self-identified sexual orientation," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 205(C).
    11. Drydakis, Nick, 2021. "The Economics of Being LGBT. A Review: 2015-2020," GLO Discussion Paper Series 980, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    12. Joseph J. Sabia & Mark Wooden & Thanh Tam Nguyen, 2017. "Sexual Identity, Same‐Sex Relationships, and Labour Market Dynamics: New Evidence from Longitudinal Data in Australia," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 83(4), pages 903-931, April.
    13. Michael E. Martell & Leanne Roncolato, 2023. "Economic Vulnerability of Sexual Minorities: Evidence from the US Household Pulse Survey," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 42(2), pages 1-74, April.

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