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The Geography of Jobs and the Gender Wage Gap

Author

Listed:
  • Sitian Liu

    (Queen’s University)

  • Yichen Su

    (Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas)

Abstract

Prior studies show that women are more willing to accept lower wages for shorter commutes than men. We show that gender differences in commuting preferences lead to a gender wage gap only if there is a wage penalty for shortening commutes, determined by the geography of jobs. We demonstrate this by showing that the commuting and wage gaps are considerably smaller among workers living near city centers, especially for occupations with a high geographic concentration of high-wage jobs. We highlight the geography of jobs as a key force that amplifies the impact of commuting preferences on the gender wage gap.

Suggested Citation

  • Sitian Liu & Yichen Su, 2024. "The Geography of Jobs and the Gender Wage Gap," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 106(3), pages 872-881, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:tpr:restat:v:106:y:2024:i:3:p:872-881
    DOI: 10.1162/rest_a_01188
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    Cited by:

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    2. Kenza Elass & Cecilia García-Peñalosa & Christian Schluter & Cecilia Garcia-Peñalosa, 2024. "Gender Gaps in the Urban Wage Premium," CESifo Working Paper Series 11374, CESifo.
    3. Sylvia Klosin, 2021. "Automatic Double Machine Learning for Continuous Treatment Effects," Papers 2104.10334, arXiv.org.
    4. Wu, Jiaxian & Liu, Xiuyan & Li, Hao, 2024. "The subway and the gender wage gap," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 94(C).
    5. Alipour Jean-Victor & Müller Marlene & Verkühlen Nadine, 2025. "Homeoffice: Zukunftsvision auf dem Weg zu mehr Gleichberechtigung?," Wirtschaftsdienst, Sciendo, vol. 105(1), pages 59-63.
    6. Janzen, Sarah & Magnan, Nicholas & Mullally, Conner & Sharma, Shruti & Shrestha, Bhola, 2025. "Going the distance: Hybrid vocational training for women in Nepal," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 174(C).
    7. Xing, Chunbing & Yuan, Xiaoyan & Zhang, Junfu, 2022. "City size, family migration, and gender wage gap: Evidence from rural–urban migrants in China," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 97(C).

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
    • J22 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Time Allocation and Labor Supply
    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials
    • R12 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - Size and Spatial Distributions of Regional Economic Activity; Interregional Trade (economic geography)
    • R41 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Transportation Economics - - - Transportation: Demand, Supply, and Congestion; Travel Time; Safety and Accidents; Transportation Noise

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