Male-Female Wage Differentials in Job Ladders

Edward Lazear and Sherwin Rosen

Journal of Labor Economics, 1990, vol. 8, issue 1, S106-23

Abstract: Much of the male-female wage differential exists because men and women are assigned to different jobs. Within narrow job categories, there is no male-female differential. Only a tortured taste theory of discrimination can reconcile these facts. The authors argue that differential movement along job ladders entails comparative advantage, so the ability standard for promotion is higher for women. This implies that more able women will be passed over in favor of less able men. Women, assumed to have the same ability distribution as men, earn less. The differential reflects females' lower promotion probability, not within-job discrimination. Copyright 1990 by University of Chicago Press.

Date: 1990
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