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The Sexual Orientation Wage Gap: The Role of Occupational Sorting and Human Capital

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Author Info
Heather Antecol
Anneke Jong
Michael D. Steinberger
Abstract

Using data from the 2000 U.S. Census, the authors explore two alternative explanations for the sexual orientation wage gap: occupational sorting, and human capital differences. They find that lesbian women earned more than their heterosexual counterparts irrespective of marital status, while gay men earned less than similar married heterosexual men but more than similar cohabitating heterosexual men. Results of a Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition indicate that the relative wage advantages observed for some groups of lesbians and gay men were mainly owing to their superior human capital accumulation (particularly education), while occupational sorting had little or no influence. The relative wage penalties that were observed in other cases, however, cannot be attributed either to differences in occupational sorting or to human capital. An analysis employing an alternative decomposition, one allowing for variation in the wage gap at different points along the wage distribution, broadly confirms these results, although with some variation.

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Article provided by ILR Review, ILR School, Cornell University in its journal ILR Review.

Volume (Year): 61 (2008)
Issue (Month): 4 (July)
Pages: 518-543
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Handle: RePEc:ilr:articl:v:61:y:2008:i:4:p:518-543

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  1. Antecol, Heather & Steinberger, Michael, 2009. "Female Labor Supply Differences by Sexual Orientation: A Semi-Parametric Decomposition Approach," IZA Discussion Papers 4029, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
  2. Amélie Lafrance & Casey Warman & Frances Woolley, 2009. "Sexual Identity And The Marriage Premium," Working Papers 1219, Queen's University, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
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