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Rhetoric in Economic Research: The Case of Gender Wage Differentials

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Author Info
Doris Weichselbaumer () (Department of Economics, Johannes Kepler University Linz, Austria)
Rudolf Winter-Ebmer () (Department of Economics, Johannes Kepler University Linz, Austria)

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Abstract

Scientific rhetoric can have a profound impact on the perception of research; it can a lso drive and direct further research efforts. What determines whether results are discussed in a neutral or a judgmental way? How precise and convincing must results be so that authors call for significant policy changes? These questions are in general difficult to answer, because rhetoric on the one hand, and content and methodology of the paper on the other, cannot be separated easily. We, therefore, use a unique example to examine this question empirically: the analysis of gender wage differentials. Here, the Blinder-Oaxaca decomposition represents a standard research method that compares male and female earnings, holding productivity constant. We analyze close to 200 papers to investigate what drives authors to talk about "discrimination", whether and when they call for policy activism or when they are more hesitant to do so. Furthermore, we examine whether the rhetoric used really reveals an author's prejudice on the topic which may also be reflected in data selection and thereby his or her findings.

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Paper provided by Department of Economics, Johannes Kepler University Linz, Austria in its series Economics working papers with number 2003-12.

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Date of creation: Sep 2003
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Handle: RePEc:jku:econwp:2003_12

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Related research
Keywords: Rhetoric; gender wage differential; discrimination;

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
J7 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor Discrimination
J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
B4 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - Economic Methodology

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References listed on IDEAS
Please 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.:
  1. Ronald Oaxaca, . "Male-Female Wage Differentials in Urban Labor Markets," Working Papers 396, Princeton University, Department of Economics, Industrial Relations Section.. [Downloadable!]
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  2. McCloskey, Donald N, 1983. "The Rhetoric of Economics," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 21(2), pages 481-517, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  3. Silber, Jacques & Weber, Michael, 1999. "Labour Market Discrimination: Are there Significant Differences between the Various Decomposition Procedures?," Applied Economics, Taylor and Francis Journals, vol. 31(3), pages 359-365, March. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  4. Reimers, Cordelia W, 1983. "Labor Market Discrimination against Hispanic and Black Men," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 65(4), pages 570-79, November. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  5. Victor R. Fuchs & Alan B. Krueger & James M. Poterba, 1998. "Economists' Views about Parameters, Values, and Policies: Survey Results in Labor and Public Economics," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 36(3), pages 1387-1425, September. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  6. Weichselbaumer, Doris & Winter-Ebmer, Rudolf, 2003. "A Meta-Analysis of the International Gender Wage Gap," Economics Series 143, Institute for Advanced Studies. [Downloadable!]
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  7. David Neumark, 1987. "Employers' discriminatory behavior and the estimation of wage discrimination," Special Studies Papers 227, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.).
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Cited by:
(explanations, Please 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.)

  1. Evangelia Papapetrou, 2008. "Evidence on gender wage differentials in Greece," Economic Change and Restructuring, Springer, vol. 41(2), pages 155-166, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  2. Weichselbaumer, Doris & Winter-Ebmer, Rudolf, 2003. "A Meta-Analysis of the International Gender Wage Gap," Economics Series 143, Institute for Advanced Studies. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  3. Martina Zweimüller & Rudolf Winter-Ebmer & Doris Weichselbaumer, 2007. "Market Orientation and Gender Wage Gaps: An International Study," IZA Discussion Papers 2918, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  4. Mary E. Graham & Julie L. Hotchkiss, 2008. "Elimination of gender-related employment disparities through statistical process control," Working Paper 2008-24, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. [Downloadable!]
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