Does Tax Transparency Influence Wage Setting?. Evidence on Gender Gaps

Cristiano C. Carvalho () and Trine E. Vattø ()
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Trine E. Vattø: Statistics Norway, http://www.ssb.no/en/forskning/ansatte

Discussion Papers from Statistics Norway, Research Department

Abstract: This paper examines how an often-overlooked source of pay transparency—the public disclosure of tax information—affects gender wage gaps. We exploit a 2001 change in Norway that made individual tax returns searchable online. Using matched employer–employee data and a difference in-differences design, we find that within-firm gender wage gaps fell by 2.2 percentage points (8.7 percent), driven by rising female wages. Effects are strongest in private-sector firms, industries with initially larger gaps, and municipalities that previously lacked easy access to printed tax lists. Wage gains are concentrated among job-changing women, suggesting that broad-based transparency mainly operates through improved information for job search.

Keywords: Gender Wage Gap; Income Transparency; Public Disclosure of Tax Information (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J16 J31 J38 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 49 pages
Date: 2026-02
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-gen, nep-hrm, nep-inv, nep-iue, nep-lab, nep-lma and nep-pbe
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