A search interpretation of the family gap

Yahong Zhang

Labour Economics, 2012, vol. 19, issue 2, 186-197

Abstract: This paper proposes a general equilibrium search model to investigate what is known as the family gap: wage differentials between mothers and non-mothers. In the human capital literature a substantial amount of the family gap is left unexplained after controlling for schooling and experience. This paper suggests that differences in labor market behavior between mothers and non-mothers are an important factor in explaining the family gap. For college graduates, estimation results show that employed mothers search 70% less than non-mothers and more than 50% of the family gap can be explained by the labor market behavior differences between mothers and non-mothers. Such differences, however, can not explain the family gap for high school graduates.

Keywords: Search models; Family gap (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2012
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:labeco:v:19:y:2012:i:2:p:186-197

DOI: 10.1016/j.labeco.2011.09.010

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