Barriers to Entry: Decomposing the Gender Gap in Job Search in Urban Pakistan

Elisabetta Gentile (), Nikita Kohli (), Nivedhitha Subramanian (), Zunia Tirmazee () and Kate Vyborny
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Elisabetta Gentile: Asian Development Bank
Nikita Kohli: Duke University
Nivedhitha Subramanian: Bates College
Zunia Tirmazee: Lahore School of Economics

No 707, ADB Economics Working Paper Series from Asian Development Bank

Abstract: Gender gaps in labor market outcomes persist in South Asia. An open question is whether supply or demand side constraints play a larger role. We investigate this using matched data from three sources in Lahore, Pakistan: representative samples of jobseekers and employers; administrative data from a job matching platform; and an incentivized resume rating experiment. Employers’ gender restrictions are a larger constraint on women’s job opportunities than supply-side decisions. At higher levels of education, demand-side barriers relax, allowing women to qualify for more jobs but at lower salaries. On the supply side, educated women become more selective in their search.

Keywords: gender; discrimination; job search; jobs platform; vacancies; applications (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J16 J22 J23 R23 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 44 pages
Date: 2023-12-11
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-gen and nep-lab
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ris:adbewp:0707

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