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Working Hours, Promotion and the Gender Gap in the Workplace

Author

Listed:
  • Kato, Takao

    (Colgate University)

  • Ogawa, Hiromasa

    (National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies Japan)

  • Owan, Hideo

    (Waseda University)

Abstract

This paper presents a novel model of promotion within the firm which sheds new light on the interplay between working hours and the odds of subsequent promotion. The model's key feature is the coexistence of two different sources of asymmetric information: (i) the worker's cost of long working hours: and (ii) the worker's OJT ability (the worker's ability to accumulate valuable human capital on the job through learning by doing). The worker's cost of working long hours is known only to the worker, while the worker's OJT ability is accurately assessed only by the firm observing him/her on the job. Long working hours signal the worker's commitment to the firm, which determines the surplus produced when the worker is promoted. Thus, the firm provides the worker with managerial training only after observing the employee's hours worked, a signal of his/her commitment to the firm or lack thereof. The firm's decision to provide training also depends on its private information about the worker's OJT ability, which affects his/her future productivity if and when the worker gets promoted. Upon completion of training, the firm then promotes the worker. The model illuminates under what conditions, it is efficient for the firm to adopt the information revelation strategy – reveal its private information on the worker's OJT ability to him/her before the worker decides on whether to work long hours and signal his/her commitment. Using the model, we show that under a reasonable set of conditions, the firm may find it optimal to adopt the information revelation strategy for women but not for men, and derive an empirical testable hypothesis that the correlation between working hours and subsequent promotion will be stronger for women than for men. We analyze longitudinal personnel data from a large Japanese manufacturing firm and provide rigorous econometric evidence in support of the hypothesis.

Suggested Citation

  • Kato, Takao & Ogawa, Hiromasa & Owan, Hideo, 2016. "Working Hours, Promotion and the Gender Gap in the Workplace," IZA Discussion Papers 10454, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
  • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp10454
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Kato, Takao & Kodama, Naomi, 2015. "Work-Life Balance Practices, Performance-Related Pay, and Gender Equality in the Workplace: Evidence from Japan," IZA Discussion Papers 9379, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    2. 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.
    3. Kato, Takao & Kodama, Naomi, 2017. "Women in the Workplace and Management Practices: Theory and Evidence," IZA Discussion Papers 10788, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    4. DeVaro, Jed, 2024. "Work Schedules," IZA Discussion Papers 17061, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    5. Frederiksen, Anders & Kato, Takao & Smith, Nina, 2018. "Working Hours and Top Management Appointments: Evidence from Linked Employer-Employee Data," IZA Discussion Papers 11675, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    6. Jonathan Morris & Rick Delbridge & Takahiro Endo, 2018. "The Layering of Meso‐Level Institutional Effects on Employment Systems in Japan," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 56(3), pages 603-630, September.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    working hours; promotion; rat race; adverse selection; and the gender gap;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • M51 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Personnel Economics - - - Firm Employment Decisions; Promotions
    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination

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