IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/iza/izadps/dp1425.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Gender Differences Across the Earnings Distribution: Evidence from NLS:86 & HSB:92

Author

Listed:
  • Konstantopoulos, Spyros

    (Michigan State University)

  • Constant, Amelie F.

    (Temple University)

Abstract

This study examines gender differences in the earnings of young adults in the 1980s and 1990s. We determine changes in the gender gap over time in the middle, the tails, and the variability of the earnings distribution. We employ data from two longitudinal, nationally probability samples of high school seniors: the National Longitudinal Study of high school seniors in 1972, and the High School and Beyond Study in 1980 (and the 5th and 4th follow-up studies respectively). We compute the average differences using effect size estimates expressed in standard deviation units. Differences in the tails and the variability are computed using number and variance ratios respectively. Adjusting for employment selection our findings reveal that once education, occupation, and marital status are taken into account gender differences in earnings (in the middle, the tails, and the variance of the earnings distribution) are eliminated. We observe similar results in gender differences for Whites, Blacks, and Hispanics.

Suggested Citation

  • Konstantopoulos, Spyros & Constant, Amelie F., 2004. "Gender Differences Across the Earnings Distribution: Evidence from NLS:86 & HSB:92," IZA Discussion Papers 1425, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp1425
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://docs.iza.org/dp1425.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Mary Corcoran & Greg J. Duncan, 1979. "Work History, Labor Force Attachment, and Earnings Differences between the Races and Sexes," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 14(1), pages 3-20.
    2. O'Neill, June, 1990. "The Role of Human Capital in Earnings Differences between Black and White Men," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 4(4), pages 25-45, Fall.
    3. Sanders Korenman & David Neumark, 1991. "Does Marriage Really Make Men More Productive?," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 26(2), pages 282-307.
    4. Heckman, James, 2013. "Sample selection bias as a specification error," Applied Econometrics, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA), vol. 31(3), pages 129-137.
    5. Schoeni, Robert F, 1995. "Marital Status and Earnings in Developed Countries," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 8(4), pages 351-359, November.
    6. Carnoy, Martin, 1996. "Education and racial inequality: The human capital explanation revisited," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 15(3), pages 259-272, June.
    7. Smith, James P & Welch, Finis R, 1989. "Black Economic Progress after Myrdal," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 27(2), pages 519-564, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Konstantopoulos, Spyros & Constant, Amelie F., 2005. "The Gender Gap Reloaded: Is School Quality Linked to Labor Market Performance?," IZA Discussion Papers 1830, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    2. Constant, Amelie F. & Konstantopoulos, Spyros, 2002. "School Effects and Labor Market Outcomes for Young Adults in the 1980s and 1990s," IZA Discussion Papers 671, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    3. Ribar, David C., 2004. "What Do Social Scientists Know About the Benefits of Marriage? A Review of Quantitative Methodologies," IZA Discussion Papers 998, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    4. Lewis, Dan & Konstantopoulos, Spyros & Altenbernd, Lisa, 2005. "The Correlates of Work in a Post-AFDC World: The Results from a Longitudinal State-Level Analysis," IZA Discussion Papers 1626, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    5. Jamie H. Douglas & Michael D. Steinberger, 2015. "The Sexual Orientation Wage Gap for Racial Minorities," Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 54(1), pages 59-108, January.
    6. Emily Hoffnar & Michael Greene, 1995. "The Effect Of Relative Group Size On The Employment Prospects Of African-American And White Males," The Review of Regional Studies, Southern Regional Science Association, vol. 25(2), pages 207-218, Fall.
    7. Nabanita Datta Gupta & Nina Smith & Leslie S. Stratton, 2007. "Is Marriage Poisonous? Are Relationships Taxing? An Analysis of the Male Marital Wage Differential in Denmark," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 74(2), pages 412-433, October.
    8. Susanna Loeb & Mary Corcoran, 2001. "Welfare, work experience, and economic self-sufficiency," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 20(1), pages 1-20.
    9. Rodgers III, William M. & Stratton, Leslie S., 2005. "The Male Marital Wage Differential: Race, Training, and Fixed Effects," IZA Discussion Papers 1745, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    10. Jane Waldfogel & Susan E. Mayer, 1999. "Male-Female Differences in the Low-Wage Labor Market," Working Papers 9904, Harris School of Public Policy Studies, University of Chicago.
    11. Ahituv, Avner & Lerman, Robert I., 2005. "How Do Marital Status, Wage Rates, and Work Commitment Interact?," IZA Discussion Papers 1688, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    12. Hellerstein, Judith K & Neumark, David & Troske, Kenneth R, 1999. "Wages, Productivity, and Worker Characteristics: Evidence from Plant-Level Production Functions and Wage Equations," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 17(3), pages 409-446, July.
    13. Cornaglia, Francesca & Feldman, Naomi E., 2011. "Productivity, Wages, and Marriage: The Case of Major League Baseball," IZA Discussion Papers 5695, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    14. Schneebaum, Alyssa & Schubert, Nina, 2017. "Marriage (In)equality: Does the Sexual Orientation Wage Gap Persist Across Marital Status?," Department of Economics Working Paper Series 254, WU Vienna University of Economics and Business.
    15. Neal, Derek A & Johnson, William R, 1996. "The Role of Premarket Factors in Black-White Wage Differences," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 104(5), pages 869-895, October.
    16. Arriagada, Ana-Maria, 1989. "The effect of job training on Peruvian women's employment and wages," Policy Research Working Paper Series 241, The World Bank.
    17. Mora, Jhon James & Arcila, Andrés Mauricio, 2014. "Brechas salariales por etnia y ubicación geográfica en Santiago de Cali || Wage Gap by Geographic Location and Ethnicity in Cali (Colombia)," Revista de Métodos Cuantitativos para la Economía y la Empresa = Journal of Quantitative Methods for Economics and Business Administration, Universidad Pablo de Olavide, Department of Quantitative Methods for Economics and Business Administration, vol. 18(1), pages 34-53, December.
    18. Das, Jayoti & De Loach, Stephen B., 2011. "Mirror, mirror on the wall: The effect of time spent grooming on earnings," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 40(1), pages 26-34, February.
    19. Miguel Olivo-Villabrille, 2022. "The marital earnings premium: an IV approach," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 62(2), pages 709-747, February.
    20. Claudia Goldin, 1994. "Labor Markets in the Twentieth Century," NBER Historical Working Papers 0058, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    general statistical methods; gender differences in earnings;

    JEL classification:

    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials
    • C10 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric and Statistical Methods and Methodology: General - - - General

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp1425. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    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 CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc 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 RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Holger Hinte (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/izaaade.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.