Differences in Labor Supply to Monopsonistic Firms and the Gender Pay Gap: An Empirical Analysis Using Linked Employer-Employee Data from Germany
Abstract
This article investigates women's and men's labor supply to the firm within a semistructural approach based on a dynamic model of new monopsony. Using methods of survival analysis and a large linked employer-employee data set for Germany, we find that labor supply elasticities are small (1.9-3.7) and that women's labor supply to the firm is less elastic than men's (which is the reverse of gender differences in labor supply usually found at the level of the market). Our results imply that at least one-third of the gender pay gap might be wage discrimination by profit-maximizing monopsonistic employers. (c) 2010 by The University of Chicago.Download Info
If you experience problems downloading a file, check if you have the proper application to view it first. In case of further problems read the IDEAS help page. Note that these files are not on the IDEAS site. Please be patient as the files may be large.As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to look for a different version under "Related research" (further below) or search for a different version of it.
Bibliographic Info
Article provided by University of Chicago Press in its journal Journal of Labor Economics.
Volume (Year): 28 (2010)
Issue (Month): 2 (04)
Pages: 291-330
Contact details of provider:
Web page: http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/JOLE/
Related research
Keywords:Other versions of this item:
- Boris Hirsch & Thorsten Schank & Claus Schnabel, 2008. "Differences in Labor Supply to Monopsonistic Firms and the Gender Pay Gap: An Empirical Analysis Using Linked Employer-Employee Data from Germany," Working Papers 1111, Princeton University, Department of Economics, Industrial Relations Section..
- J42 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Particular Labor Markets - - - Monopsony; Segmented Labor Markets
- J60 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, and Vacancies - - - General
- J71 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor Discrimination - - - Hiring and Firing
References
References listed on IDEASPlease report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
- Hirsch, Barry T. & Schumacher, Edward J., 2005. "Classic or new monopsony? Searching for evidence in nursing labor markets," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 24(5), pages 969-989, September.
- Bowlus, A.J. & Eckstein, Z., 1998.
"Discrimination and Skill Differences in an Equilibrium Search Model,"
Papers
04-98, Tel Aviv.
- Audra J. Bowlus & Zvi Eckstein, 2002. "Discrimination and Skill Differences in an Equilibrium Search Model," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 43(4), pages 1309-1345, November.
- Bowlus, Audra J & Eckstein, Zvi, 1998. "Discrimination and Skill Differences in an Equilibrium Search Model," CEPR Discussion Papers 1859, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
- Audra J. Bowlus & Zvi Eckstein, 1998. "Discrimination and Skill Differences in an Equilibrium Search Model," UWO Department of Economics Working Papers 9802, University of Western Ontario, Department of Economics.
- Postel-Vinay, Fabien & Robin, Jean-Marc, 2002.
"Equilibrium Wage Dispersion with Worker and Employer Heterogeneity,"
CEPR Discussion Papers
3548, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
- Fabien Postel-Vinay & Jean-Marc Robin, 2002. "Equilibrium Wage Dispersion with Worker and Employer Heterogeneity," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 70(6), pages 2295-2350, November.
- Postel-Vinay, Fabien & Robin, Jean-Marc, 2002. "Equilibrium Wage Dispersion with Worker and Employer Heterogeneity ," Open Access publications from Sciences Po info:hdl:2441/c8dmi8nm4pd, Sciences Po.
- Postel-Vinay, F. & Robin, J.-M., 2002. "Equilibrium wage dispersion with worker and employer heterogeneity," Open Access publications from University College London http://discovery.ucl.ac.u, University College London.
- Bergemann, Annette & Mertens, Antje, 2004.
"Job Stability Trends, Layoffs and Transitions to Unemployment - An Empirical Analysis for West Germany,"
CEPR Discussion Papers
4792, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
- Bergemann, Annette & Mertens, Antje, 2004. "Job Stability Trends, Layoffs, and Transitions to Unemployment: An Empirical Analysis for West Germany," IZA Discussion Papers 1368, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA).
- Arntz, Melanie, 2005. "The Geographical Mobility of Unemployed Workers: Evidence from West Germany," ZEW Discussion Papers 05-34, ZEW - Zentrum für Europäische Wirtschaftsforschung / Center for European Economic Research.
- Rainer Winkelmann & Klaus Zimmermann, 1998.
"Is job stability declining in Germany? Evidence from count data models,"
Applied Economics,
Taylor and Francis Journals, vol. 30(11), pages 1413-1420.
- Winkelmann, Rainer & Zimmermann, Klaus F., 1998. "Is Job Stability Declining in Germany? Evidences from Count Data Models," IZA Discussion Papers 1, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA).
- Hirsch, Boris, 2007.
"Joan Robinson Meets Harold Hotelling : A Dyopsonistic Explanation of the Gender Pay Gap,"
Discussion Papers
51, Friedrich-Alexander-University Erlangen-Nuremberg, Chair of Labour and Regional Economics.
- Boris Hirsch, 2007. "Joan Robinson Meets Harold Hotelling: A Dyopsonistic Explanation of the Gender Pay Gap," Working Papers 024, Bavarian Graduate Program in Economics (BGPE).
- Schlicht, Ekkehart, 1982. "A Robinsonian Approach to Discrimination," Munich Reprints in Economics 3351, University of Munich, Department of Economics.
- Campbell, Carl M, III, 1993. "Do Firms Pay Efficiency Wages? Evidence with Data at the Firm Level," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 11(3), pages 442-70, July.
- Bowlus, Audra J, 1997.
"A Search Interpretation of Male-Female Wage Differentials,"
Journal of Labor Economics,
University of Chicago Press, vol. 15(4), pages 625-57, October.
- Bowlus, A.J., 1995. "A Search Interpretation of Male-Female Wage Differentials," UWO Department of Economics Working Papers 9504, University of Western Ontario, Department of Economics.
- William M. Boal & Michael R. Ransom, 1997. "Monopsony in the Labor Market," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 35(1), pages 86-112, March.
- Jaap H. Abbring & Gerard J. Van Den Berg, 2007.
"The unobserved heterogeneity distribution in duration analysis,"
Biometrika,
Biometrika Trust, vol. 94(1), pages 87-99.
- Abbring, Jaap H & van den Berg, Gerard J, 2007. "The Unobserved Heterogeneity Distribution in Duration Analysis," CEPR Discussion Papers 6219, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
- Van den Berg, Gerard J., 2001.
"Duration models: specification, identification and multiple durations,"
Handbook of Econometrics,
in: J.J. Heckman & E.E. Leamer (ed.), Handbook of Econometrics, edition 1, volume 5, chapter 55, pages 3381-3460
Elsevier.
- Van den Berg, Gerard J., 2000. "Duration Models: Specification, Identification, and Multiple Durations," MPRA Paper 9446, University Library of Munich, Germany.
- Erling Barth & Harald Dale-Olsen, 1999. "Monopsonistic Discrimination and the Gender-Wage Gap," NBER Working Papers 7197, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
- Gartner, Hermann & Stephan, Gesine, 2004. "How collective contracts and works councils reduce the gender wage gap," IAB Discussion Paper 200407, Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany].
- Ransom, Michael R. & Oaxaca, Ronald L., 2005. "Sex Differences in Pay in a "New Monopsony" Model of the Labor Market," IZA Discussion Papers 1870, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA).
- Usui, Emiko, 2009. "Wages, non-wage characteristics, and predominantly male jobs," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 16(1), pages 52-63, January.
- Pierre Cahuc & André Zylberberg, 2004. "Labor Economics," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 026203316x.
- Bhaskar, V. & Manning, A. & To, T., 2002.
"Oligopsony and monopsonistic competition in labor markets,"
Open Access publications from University College London
http://discovery.ucl.ac.u, University College London.
- Alan Manning & Ted To, 2002. "Oligopsony and Monopsonistic Competition in Labor Markets," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 16(2), pages 155-174, Spring.
- Gerard J. van den Berg & Geert Ridder, 1998.
"An Empirical Equilibrium Search Model of the Labor Market,"
Econometrica,
Econometric Society, vol. 66(5), pages 1183-1222, September.
- Berg, G.J. & Ridder, G., 1993. "An empirical equilibrium search model of the labour market," Serie Research Memoranda 0039, VU University Amsterdam, Faculty of Economics, Business Administration and Econometrics.
- Green, Francis & Machin, Stephen & Manning, Alan, 1996. "The Employer Size-Wage Effect: Can Dynamic Monopsony Provide an Explanation?," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 48(3), pages 433-55, July.
- Alda, Holger & Bender, Stefan & Gartner, Hermann, 2005. "The linked employer-employee dataset of the IAB (LIAB)," IAB Discussion Paper 200506, Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany].
- Usui, Emiko, 2012. "Gender Occupational Segregation in an Equilibrium Search Model," CIS Discussion paper series 560, Center for Intergenerational Studies, Institute of Economic Research, Hitotsubashi University.
Citations
Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.Cited by:
This item has more than 25 citations. To prevent cluttering this page, these citations are listed on a separate page.
Lists
This item is not listed on Wikipedia, on a reading list or among the top items on IDEAS.Statistics
Access and download statisticsCorrections
When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:ucp:jlabec:v:28:y:2010:i:2:p:291-330For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: (Journals Division).
If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.
If references are entirely missing, you can add them using this form.
If the full references list an item that is present in RePEc, but the system did not link to it, you can help with this form.
If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.
Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

