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Testosterone and the gender wage gap

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Listed:
  • Anne C. Gielen
  • Jessica Holmes
  • Caitlin Myers

Abstract

Testosterone, which induces sexual differentiation of the male fetus, is believed to transfer from males to their littermates in placental mammals. Among humans, individuals with a male twin have been found to exhibit greater masculinization of sexually dimorphic attributes relative to those with a female twin. We therefore regard twinning as a plausible natural experiment to test the link between prenatal exposure to testosterone and labor market earnings. For men, the results suggest positive returns to testosterone exposure. For women, however, the results indicate that prenatal testosterone does not generate higher earnings and may even be associated with modest declines.

Suggested Citation

  • Anne C. Gielen & Jessica Holmes & Caitlin Myers, 2013. "Testosterone and the gender wage gap," Middlebury College Working Paper Series 1301, Middlebury College, Department of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:mdl:mdlpap:1301
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    File URL: http://www.middlebury.edu/services/econ/repec/mdl/ancoec/1301.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
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    7. Jeffrey A. Flory & Andreas Leibbrandt & John A. List, 2010. "Do Competitive Work Places Deter Female Workers? A Large-Scale Natural Field Experiment on Gender Differences in Job-Entry Decisions," NBER Working Papers 16546, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
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    As found by EconAcademics.org, the blog aggregator for Economics research:
    1. The impact of testosterone on wages
      by Economic Logician in Economic Logic on 2013-10-03 19:36:00

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    testosterone; twins; gender gap;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J30 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - General
    • J71 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor Discrimination - - - Hiring and Firing

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