IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/iza/izadps/dp2007.html

The Narrowing of the U.S. Gender Earnings Gap, 1959-1999: A Cohort-Based Analysis

Author

Listed:
  • Weinberger, Catherine

    (University of California, Santa Barbara)

  • Kuhn, Peter J.

    (University of California, Santa Barbara)

Abstract

Using Census and Current Population Survey data spanning 1959 through 1999, we assess the relative contributions of two factors to the decline in the gender wage gap: changes across cohorts in the relative slopes of men's and women's age-earnings profiles, versus changes in relative earnings levels at labor market entry. We find that changes in relative slopes account for about one-third of the narrowing of the gender wage gap over the past 40 years. Under quite general conditions, we argue that this provides an upper bound estimate of the contribution of changes in work experience and other post-school investments (PSIs) to the decline of the gender wage gap.

Suggested Citation

  • Weinberger, Catherine & Kuhn, Peter J., 2006. "The Narrowing of the U.S. Gender Earnings Gap, 1959-1999: A Cohort-Based Analysis," IZA Discussion Papers 2007, IZA Network @ LISER.
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp2007
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://docs.iza.org/dp2007.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. O'Neill, June & Polachek, Solomon, 1993. "Why the Gender Gap in Wages Narrowed in the 1980s," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 11(1), pages 205-228, January.
    2. Solomon William Polachek, 1975. "Potential Biases in Measuring Male-Female Discrimination," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 10(2), pages 205-229.
    3. David A. Wise, 1994. "Studies in the Economics of Aging," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number wise94-1, January.
    4. Yoram Weiss & Reuben Gronau, 1981. "Expected Interruptions in Labour Force Participation and Sex-Related Differences in Earnings Growth," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 48(4), pages 607-619.
    5. Angus S. Deaton & Christina Paxson, 1994. "Saving, Growth, and Aging in Taiwan," NBER Chapters, in: Studies in the Economics of Aging, pages 331-362, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    6. Francine D. Blau & Anne E. Winkler, 2017. "Women, Work, and Family," NBER Working Papers 23644, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    7. Jacob Mincer & Solomon Polachek, 1974. "Family Investments in Human Capital: Earnings of Women," NBER Chapters, in: Marriage, Family, Human Capital, and Fertility, pages 76-110, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    8. Goldin, Claudia, 1989. "Life-Cycle Labor-Force Participation of Married Women: Historical Evidence and Implications," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 7(1), pages 20-47, January.
    9. Solomon William Polachek, 1978. "Sex Differences in College Major," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 31(4), pages 498-508, July.
    10. Francine D. Blau & Lawrence M. Kahn, 2000. "Gender Differences in Pay," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 14(4), pages 75-99, Fall.
    11. Kuhn, P., 1995. "Demographic groups and personnel policy," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 2(1), pages 101-102, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. George-Levi Gayle & Limor Golan, "undated". "Estimating a Dynamic Adverse Selection Model: Labor Force Experience and the Changing Gender Earnings Gap 1968-93," GSIA Working Papers 2006-E40, Carnegie Mellon University, Tepper School of Business.
    2. Bjerk, David & Han, Seungjin, 2007. "Assortative marriage and the effects of government homecare subsidy programs on gender wage and participation inequality," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 91(5-6), pages 1135-1150, June.
    3. Solomon W. Polachek & Jun Xiang, 2009. "The Gender Pay Gap across Countries: A Human Capital Approach," SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research 227, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).

    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. Michal Myck & Gillian Paull, 2001. "The role of employment experience in explaining the gender wage gap," IFS Working Papers W01/18, Institute for Fiscal Studies.
    2. Claudia Olivetti, 2006. "Changes in Women's Hours of Market Work: The Role of Returns to Experience," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 9(4), pages 557-587, October.
    3. Andrés Erosa & Luisa Fuster & Gueorgui Kambourov & Richard Rogerson, 2022. "Hours, Occupations, and Gender Differences in Labor Market Outcomes," American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 14(3), pages 543-590, July.
    4. Solomon W. Polachek & Jun Xiang, 2009. "The Gender Pay Gap across Countries: A Human Capital Approach," SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research 227, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).
    5. Dougherty, Christopher, 2003. "Why is the rate of return to schooling higher for women than for men?," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 20034, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    6. Catherine J. Weinberger & Peter J. Kuhn, 2010. "Changing Levels or Changing Slopes? The Narrowing of the Gender Earnings Gap 1959 – 1999," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 63(3), pages 384-406, April.
    7. Polachek, Solomon W., 2008. "Earnings Over the Life Cycle: The Mincer Earnings Function and Its Applications," Foundations and Trends(R) in Microeconomics, now publishers, vol. 4(3), pages 165-272, April.
    8. Francine D. Blau & Lawrence M. Kahn, 2017. "The Gender Wage Gap: Extent, Trends, and Explanations," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 55(3), pages 789-865, September.
    9. Francine D. Blau & Lawrence M. Kahn, 2013. "The Feasibility and Importance of Adding Measures of Actual Experience to Cross-Sectional Data Collection," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 31(S1), pages 17-58.
    10. Christopher Dougherty, 2005. "Why Are the Returns to Schooling Higher for Women than for Men?," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 40(4), pages 969-988.
    11. Claudia Goldin, 2014. "A Grand Gender Convergence: Its Last Chapter," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 104(4), pages 1091-1119, April.
    12. Palomino, Frédéric & Peyrache, Eloïc-Anil, 2010. "Psychological bias and gender wage gap," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 76(3), pages 563-573, December.
    13. Robert Fiorentine, 1993. "Theories of Gender Stratification," Rationality and Society, , vol. 5(3), pages 341-366, July.
    14. John Raisian & Michael R. Ward & Finis Welch, 1986. "Pay Equity And Comparable Worth," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 4(2), pages 4-20, April.
    15. Frédéric Palomino & Eloïc-Anil Peyrache, 2010. "Psychological Bias and Gender Wage Gap," Post-Print hal-00911836, HAL.
    16. Blau, Francine D. & Kahn, Lawrence M., 1999. "Analyzing the gender pay gap," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 39(5), pages 625-646.
    17. Chakraborty, Shankha & Papageorgiou, Chris & Pérez Sebastián, Fidel, 2010. "Diseases, infection dynamics, and development," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 57(7), pages 859-872, October.
    18. Guiso, Luigi & Jappelli, Tullio, 2002. "Private Transfers, Borrowing Constraints and the Timing of Homeownership," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 34(2), pages 315-339, May.
    19. Bisakha Sen, 2003. "Why do Women feel the way they do about market work: the role of familial, social and economic factors," Review of Social Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 61(2), pages 211-234.
    20. Mori, Hiroshi & Clason, Dennis L. & Ishibashi, Kimiko & Gorman, William D. & Dyck, John H., 2009. "Declining Orange Consumption in Japan: Generational Changes or Something Else?," Economic Research Report 55836, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    JEL classification:

    • J7 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor Discrimination

    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:dp2007. 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: Mark Fallak (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/izaaalu.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.