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Sexual Orientation and Wage Discrimination in France: The Hidden Side of the Rainbow

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  • Thierry Laurent
  • Ferhat Mihoubi

Abstract

This article is the first study to present an econometric evaluation of wage discrimination based on sexual orientation in the French labor market. Having identified same-sex couples using the French Employment Survey, we estimate the wage gap related to sexual orientation in the private and public sectors, in order to analyze whether or not lesbians and gays suffer a wage penalty. The results obtained show the existence of a wage penalty for homosexual male workers, as compared with their heterosexual counterparts, in both the private and public sectors; the magnitude of this discrimination varies from about −6.5 % in the private sector, to −5.5 % in the public sector. In the private sector, the wage penalty suffered by gay employees is higher for skilled workers than for the unskilled, and—in both sectors—the wage penalty is higher for older workers than for younger ones. As with many other countries, we do not find any evidence of the existence of a wage discrimination against lesbians. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2012

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  • Thierry Laurent & Ferhat Mihoubi, 2012. "Sexual Orientation and Wage Discrimination in France: The Hidden Side of the Rainbow," Journal of Labor Research, Springer, vol. 33(4), pages 487-527, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:jlabre:v:33:y:2012:i:4:p:487-527
    DOI: 10.1007/s12122-012-9145-x
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    Cited by:

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    2. Diaz-Serrano, Luis & Meix-Llop, Enric, 2015. "Do Schools Discriminate Against Homosexual Parents? Evidence from an Internet Field Experiment," IZA Discussion Papers 9044, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    3. Drydakis, Nick, 2024. "Artificial Intelligence Capital and Employment Prospects," GLO Discussion Paper Series 1408, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    4. Angelo Moretti, 2023. "Regional Public Opinions on LGBTI People Equal Opportunities in Employment: Evidence from the Eurobarometer Programme using Small Area Estimation," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 166(2), pages 413-438, April.
    5. Thierry Laurent & Ferhat Mihoubi, 2017. "Sexual Orientation, Unemployment and Participation: Are Gays Less Employable than Straights?," Journal of Labor Research, Springer, vol. 38(1), pages 1-44, March.
    6. Garcia-Murillo, Martha & MacInnes, Ian, 2018. "Così fan tutte: A better approach than the right to be forgotten," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 42(3), pages 227-240.
    7. Sanghoon Lee, 2021. "Social Tolerance and Economic Development," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 158(3), pages 1087-1103, December.
    8. Dilmaghani, Maryam & Dean, Jason, 2020. "Sexual orientation and homeownership in Canada," Journal of Housing Economics, Elsevier, vol. 49(C).
    9. Drydakis, Nick, 2024. "Artificial Intelligence Capital and Employment Prospects," IZA Discussion Papers 16866, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    10. Diaz-Serrano, Luis & Meix-Llop, Enric, 2016. "Do schools discriminate against homosexual parents? Evidence from a randomized correspondence experiment," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 133-142.
    11. John Levendis & Aaron Lowen, 2023. "What Same-Sex Adoption Laws Can Tell Us About the Gender Wage Gap in the United States," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 44(2), pages 473-489, June.
    12. Nick Drydakis, 2022. "Sexual orientation and earnings: a meta-analysis 2012–2020," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 35(2), pages 409-440, April.
    13. Gustavo Saraiva Frio & Daniel De Abreu Pereira Uhr & Júlia Gallego Ziero Uhr & Paulo De Andrade Jacinto, 2018. "Oferta De Trabalho E Orientação Sexual: Evidências Para O Brasil," Anais do XLIV Encontro Nacional de Economia [Proceedings of the 44th Brazilian Economics Meeting] 168, ANPEC - Associação Nacional dos Centros de Pós-Graduação em Economia [Brazilian Association of Graduate Programs in Economics].
    14. Stephan Humpert, 2012. "Somewhere over the Rainbow: Sexual Orientation Discrimination in Germany," Working Paper Series in Economics 245, University of Lüneburg, Institute of Economics.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Wage discrimination; Sexual orientation; Gay & lesbians; J7;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J7 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor Discrimination

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