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Unequal Hiring Wages and Their Impact on the Gender Pay Gap

Author

Listed:
  • Pham, Tho

    (University of York)

  • Schaefer, Daniel

    (Johannes Kepler University Linz)

  • Singleton, Carl

    (University of Stirling)

Abstract

National payroll earnings data reveal that men are generally paid more than women when they enter firms. Although this hiring wage gap has narrowed over the past two decades, it still accounts for over half of the overall gender pay gap in Great Britain. Even when firms hire men and women into the same specific occupation at roughly the same time, and accounting for previous work experience, there remains an unexplained hiring wage gap within jobs that favours men by 2.6%. These findings suggest that gender pay gap reporting laws that focus exclusively on the overall gaps within employers miss an important margin. Mandating employers to additionally disclose their wage gaps among newly hired workers could be highly informative.

Suggested Citation

  • Pham, Tho & Schaefer, Daniel & Singleton, Carl, 2024. "Unequal Hiring Wages and Their Impact on the Gender Pay Gap," IZA Discussion Papers 17285, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp17285
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    gender segregation; occupation-specific wages; employer-employee data;
    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
    • J70 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor Discrimination - - - General

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