Get-What-You-Want: Gender Differences in Self-Set Salaries?

In Germany, the gross hourly income of men was 6 % higher than that of women in 2025 when controlling for factors such as profession or qualifications. One possible explanation for the remaining gender pay gap may be gender differences in salary expectations and negotiations. Therefore, we examine whether gender differences exist in employees’ self-set salaries and if so, we explore potential reasons behind them. Identifying gender differences in the comparatively simplified context of self-set salaries could provide valuable insights beyond the complexities of negotiation scenarios. In particular, we investigate whether providing sub-jects with information about the average salary of men – thereby offering pay transparency – impacts self-set salaries (individual vs. transparency treatment). Furthermore, we examine how salaries are set when there is a direct comparison to another worker, and when the self-set salary affects another worker’s salary (individual vs. group treatment). Results clearly show that women set lower salaries than men in the individual treatment. However, no significant gender differences are observed in the transparency or group treatment.