The Return to Hours Worked within and across Occupations: Implications for the Gender Wage Gap

Jeffrey Denning, Brian A. Jacob (), Lars Lefgren () and Christian vom Lehn
Additional contact information
Brian A. Jacob: University of Michigan
Lars Lefgren: Brigham Young University

No 14325, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Abstract: Prior research suggests that gender differences in hours worked play an important role in the gender pay gap. Yet common estimates of the wage returns to hours worked are close to zero, implying that hours differences cannot account much for the gender wage gap, even though men work more hours than women on average. However, while the wage returns to hours worked within occupation are small, we document that the wage returns to average hours worked across occupations are large. We develop a conceptual framework that reconciles these facts. We show that, under some assumptions, gender differences in hours worked can account for a substantial portion of the gender wage gap and that increases in the returns to hours worked over the past four decades slowed progress in reducing the gender pay gap.

Keywords: gender wage gap; hours; wages; occupation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J16 J22 J31 J33 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 55 pages
Date: 2021-04
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-lma
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Published - published in: ILR Review, 2022, 75 (5), 1321 - 1347

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Related works:
Journal Article: The Return to Hours Worked within and across Occupations: Implications for the Gender Wage Gap (2022)
Working Paper: The Return to Hours Worked Within and Across Occupations: Implications for the Gender Wage Gap (2019)
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