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Do you get what you ask? The gender gap in desired and realised wages

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  • Jaanika Merikull
  • Pille Mõtsmees

Abstract

This paper will study the gender wage gap in desired wages, realised wages and reservation wages. The notion of desired wages shows workers� first bet to potential employers during the job-search process. Two datasets are employed, the electronic job-search portal database, where individuals signal their desired wages, and the labour force survey, where realised wages and reservation wages are reported. The Oaxaca-Ransom decomposition is implemented to investigate the contribution of characteristics and coefficients to the gender gap. It is found that: (1) The unexplained gender wage gap is 22�25% in desired and realised wages. (2) The unexplained gender wage gap is much larger in desired wages than in reservation wages for unemployed individuals showing women�s higher disutility from unemployment. (3) Women�s lower desired wages are revised up rather than men�s higher desired wages being revised down on the job. The results suggest that women are more risk averse in wage bargaining and self-select into occupations and industries with stable employment

Suggested Citation

  • Jaanika Merikull & Pille Mõtsmees, 2015. "Do you get what you ask? The gender gap in desired and realised wages," Bank of Estonia Working Papers wp2014-9, Bank of Estonia, revised 20 Jan 2015.
    • Handle: RePEc:eea:boewps:wp2014-9
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    gender wage gap; reservation wage; family; marriage and work; labour market mobility;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
    • J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth
    • D13 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Household Production and Intrahouse Allocation
    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials

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