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Are Women Asking for Low Wages? Gender Differences in Wage Bargaining Strategies and Ensuing Bargaining Success

Author

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  • Säve-Söderbergh, Jenny

    (Swedish Institute for Social Research, Stockholm University)

Abstract

Men and women’s labor market outcomes differ along pay, promotion and competitiveness. This paper contributes by uncovering results in a related unexplored field using unique data on individual wage bargaining. We find striking gender differences. Women, like men, also bargain, but they submit lower wage bids and are offered lower wages than men. The adjusted gender wage gap is lower with posted-wage jobs than with individual bargaining, although less is ascribable to the term associated with discrimination. Both women and men use self-promoting, or competitive bargaining strategies, but women self-promote at lower levels. Employers reward self-promotion but the larger the self-promotion, the larger is the gender gap in bargaining success. Women therefore lack the incentives to self-promote, which helps to explain the gender disparities.

Suggested Citation

  • Säve-Söderbergh, Jenny, 2007. "Are Women Asking for Low Wages? Gender Differences in Wage Bargaining Strategies and Ensuing Bargaining Success," Working Paper Series 7/2007, Stockholm University, Swedish Institute for Social Research.
    • Handle: RePEc:hhs:sofiwp:2007_007
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    File URL: http://www.sofi.su.se/content/1/c6/03/09/74/WP07no7.pdf
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Emily Murphy & Daniel Oesch, 2015. "The Feminization of Occupations and Change in Wages: A Panel Analysis of Britain, Germany and Switzerland," SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research 731, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).
    2. Angela Carollo & Anna Oksuzyan & Sven Drefahl & Carlo Giovanni Camarda & Linda Juel Ahrenfeldt & Kaare Christensen & Alyson van Raalte, 2019. "Is the age difference between partners related to women's earnings?," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 41(15), pages 425-460.
    3. Martin Gonzalez-Rozada & Eduardo Levy Yeyati, 2018. "Do women ask for lower salaries? The supply side of the gender pay gap," Department of Economics Working Papers 2018_02, Universidad Torcuato Di Tella.
    4. Friederike Maier & Oliver Stettes & Monika Queisser, 2013. "Berufschancen für Frauen, Lohnlücke: Ist die »gläserne Decke« noch Realität oder schon Vergangenheit?," ifo Schnelldienst, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, vol. 66(07), pages 03-11, April.
    5. Martin Gonzalez-Rozada & Eduardo Levy Yeyati, 2018. "Do women ask for lower salaries? The supply side of the gender pay gap," Department of Economics Working Papers 2018_02, Universidad Torcuato Di Tella.
    6. Eleonora Matteazzi & Stefani Scherer, 2021. "Gender Wage Gap and the Involvement of Partners in Household Work," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 35(3), pages 490-508, June.
    7. Peter, Noemi & Lundborg, Petter & Webbink, Dinand, 2015. "The Effect of a Sibling's Gender on Earnings, Education and Family Formation," IZA Discussion Papers 9128, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    8. Marta Lachowska, 2017. "Outside options and wages: What can we learn from subjective assessments?," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 52(1), pages 79-121, February.
    9. Iriberri, Nagore & Hernandez-Arenaz, Iñigo, 2022. "Gender Differences in Alternating-Offer Bargaining: An Experimental Study," CEPR Discussion Papers 12561, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    10. Säve-Söderbergh, Jenny, 2019. "Gender gaps in salary negotiations: Salary requests and starting salaries in the field," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 161(C), pages 35-51.
    11. Eriksson, Stefan & Lagerström, Jonas, 2010. "The Determinants and Consequences of Unemployed Workers’ Wage Demands," Working Paper Series 2010:26, Uppsala University, Department of Economics.
    12. Hernandez-Arenaz, Iñigo & Iriberri, Nagore, 2018. "Women ask for less (only from men): Evidence from bargaining in the field," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 152(C), pages 192-214.
    13. Anna Oksuzyan & Angela Carollo & Sven Drefahl & Carlo G. Camarda & Kaare Christensen & Alyson A. van Raalte, 2017. "Does the age difference between partners influence the career achievements of women?," MPIDR Working Papers WP-2017-008, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Individual Wage Bargaining; Competitiveness; Bargaining strategies; Self-promoting Bargaining Strategies; Gender Wage Gap; and Discrimination.;
    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
    • M51 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Personnel Economics - - - Firm Employment Decisions; Promotions
    • M52 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Personnel Economics - - - Compensation and Compensation Methods and Their Effects

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