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The role of job assignment and human capital endowments in explaining gender differences in job performance and promotion

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  • Pema, Elda
  • Mehay, Stephen

Abstract

We test a job ladders theory of career progression within internal labor markets as developed by Lazear and Rosen (1990). The theory argues that gender promotion gaps are due to sorting of men and women into career tracks with different promotion opportunities based on ex ante quit probabilities. Analyzing US federal government employees using a dynamic unobserved panel data model, we find that job assignment is one of the strongest predictors of gender differences in promotion. We also find that women have to jump higher performance hurdles to promote across grades, but, within grades, their promotion probabilities are comparable to those of men. In this organization, women can be found in both fast- and slow-track jobs, based on their promotion history, suggesting that unobserved heterogeneity is revealed to the firm over the worker's career.

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  • Pema, Elda & Mehay, Stephen, 2010. "The role of job assignment and human capital endowments in explaining gender differences in job performance and promotion," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 17(6), pages 998-1009, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:labeco:v:17:y:2010:i:6:p:998-1009
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    Cited by:

    1. Moritz Drechsel-Grau & Felix Holub, 2020. "Gender Gaps and the Role of Bosses," CRC TR 224 Discussion Paper Series crctr224_2020_237, University of Bonn and University of Mannheim, Germany.
    2. Brösamle, Klaus J & Nordström Skans, Oskar, 2011. "Paths to higher office: evidence from the Swedish Civil Service," Working Paper Series, Center for Labor Studies 2011:17, Uppsala University, Department of Economics.
    3. Mare Codruta & Dragos Cristian & Popa Irimie Emil & Span Georgeta Ancuta, 2012. "A Statistical Approach Of Perceptions Of Master Accountancy Graduates Concerning Early Career Experiences," Annals of Faculty of Economics, University of Oradea, Faculty of Economics, vol. 1(1), pages 944-948, July.
    4. Sato, Kaori & Hashimoto, Yuki & Owan, Hideo, 2019. "Gender differences in Career," Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 1-1.
    5. Juho Jokinen & Jaakko Pehkonen, 2017. "Promotions and Earnings – Gender or Merit? Evidence from Longitudinal Personnel Data," Journal of Labor Research, Springer, vol. 38(3), pages 306-334, September.
    6. Leonora Risse, 2020. "Leaning in: Is higher confidence the key to women's career advancement?," Australian Journal of Labour Economics (AJLE), Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre (BCEC), Curtin Business School, vol. 23(1), pages 43-77.

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