Gender Wage Differentials in a Competitive Labor Market: The Household Interaction Effect

Patrick Francois () and Jan van Ours

No 202, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Abstract: We present a theoretical explanation of the gender wage gap which turns on the interaction between men and women in households. In equilibria where men are over-represented in full-time work, we show that firms rationally choose to hire women only at strictly lower wages than men. The model developed predicts a gap even controlling for education, occupation and industry of workers and does so in a competitive labor market where there exist no inherent gender differences. We test our theory using CPS data over the period 1979-98 and find it is strongly supported by the data.

Keywords: Gender discrimination; household models; wage gap (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J16 J41 J71 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 43 pages
Date: 2000-09
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (17)

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Related works:
Working Paper: Gender Wage Differentials in a Competitive Labour Market: The Household Interaction Effect (2000)
Working Paper: Gender Wage Differentials in a Competitive Labor Market: The Household Interaction Effect (2000)
Working Paper: Gender Wage Differentials in a Competitive Labor Market: The Household Interaction Effect (2000)
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