The dynamics of gender earnings differentials: Evidence from establishment data

Erling Barth, Sari Pekkala Kerr and Claudia Olivetti

European Economic Review, 2021, vol. 134, issue C

Abstract: Despite dramatic workforce gains by women in recent decades, a substantial gender earnings gap persists and widens over the course of men's and women's careers. Since there are earnings differences across establishments, a key question is whether the widening of the gender pay gap arises from differences in career advances within the same establishment or from differential gains from job-to-job moves across establishments. Using a unique match between the 2000 Decennial Census of the United States and the Longitudinal Employer Household Dynamics (LEHD) data, we find that both channels are important and affect workers differently by education. For the college educated, the increasing gap is for the most part due to differential earnings growth within establishment. The establishment component explains only 27% of the widening of the total gender pay gap for this group. For workers without college degree, the establishment component is the main driver of the, relatively small, widening of the gender earnings gap. For both education groups, marriage plays a crucial role in the establishment component of the increasing earnings gap.

Keywords: Gender earnings gap; Establishment; Wage age-profiles (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (14)

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Related works:
Working Paper: The Dynamics of Gender Earnings Differentials: Evidence from Establishment Data (2017)
Working Paper: The Dynamics of Gender Earnings Differentials: Evidence from Establishment Data (2017)
Working Paper: The Dynamics of Gender Earnings Differentials: Evidence from Establishment Data (2017)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:eecrev:v:134:y:2021:i:c:s0014292121000660

DOI: 10.1016/j.euroecorev.2021.103713

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