IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/qss/dqsswp/1907.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Are Women Doing It For Themselves? Gender Segregation and the Gender Wage Gap

Author

Listed:
  • Nikolaos Theodoropoulos

    (University of Cyprus)

  • John Forth

    (Cass Business School, City University of London)

  • Alex Bryson

    (University College London, National Institute of Social and Economic Research and Institute for the Study of Labor)

Abstract

Using matched employer-employee data from the 2004 and 2011 Workplace Employment Relations Surveys (WERS) for Britain we find a raw gender wage gap (GWG) in hourly wages of around 0.18-0.21 log points. The regression-adjusted gap is around half that. However, the GWG declines substantially with the increasing share of female managers in the workplace. The gap closes because women’s wages rise with the share female managers in the workplace while men’s wages fall. Panel and instrumental variables estimates suggest the share of female managers in the workplace has a causal impact in reducing the GWG. The role of female managers in closing the GWG is more pronounced when employees are paid for performance, consistent with the proposition that women are more likely to be paid equitably when managers have discretion in the way they reward performance and those managers are women. These findings suggest a stronger presence of women in managerial positions can help tackle the GWG.

Suggested Citation

  • Nikolaos Theodoropoulos & John Forth & Alex Bryson, 2019. "Are Women Doing It For Themselves? Gender Segregation and the Gender Wage Gap," DoQSS Working Papers 19-07, Quantitative Social Science - UCL Social Research Institute, University College London.
    • Handle: RePEc:qss:dqsswp:1907
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://repec.ucl.ac.uk/REPEc/pdf/qsswp1907.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Lena E. Hensvik, 2014. "Manager Impartiality: Worker-Firm Matching and the Gender Wage Gap," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 67(2), pages 395-421, April.
    2. Keith A. Bender & Susan M. Donohue & John S. Heywood, 2005. "Job satisfaction and gender segregation," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 57(3), pages 479-496, July.
    3. Kimberly Bayard & Judith Hellerstein & David Neumark & Kenneth Troske, 2003. "New Evidence on Sex Segregation and Sex Differences in Wages from Matched Employee-Employer Data," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 21(4), pages 887-922, October.
    4. repec:nsr:niesrd:34 is not listed on IDEAS
    5. Geoff Mason & Bart van Ark & Karin Wagner, 1994. "Productivity, Product Quality and Workforce Skills: Food Processing in Four European Countries," National Institute Economic Review, National Institute of Economic and Social Research, vol. 147(1), pages 62-83, February.
    6. David A. Matsa & Amalia R. Miller, 2011. "Chipping Away at the Glass Ceiling: Gender Spillovers in Corporate Leadership," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 101(3), pages 635-639, May.
    7. Jennifer Hunt, 2016. "Why do Women Leave Science and Engineering?," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 69(1), pages 199-226, January.
    8. William J. Carrington & Kenneth R. Troske, 1995. "Gender Segregation in Small Firms," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 30(3), pages 503-533.
    9. Hirsch, Boris, 2013. "The impact of female managers on the gender pay gap: Evidence from linked employer–employee data for Germany," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 119(3), pages 348-350.
    10. Lazear, Edward P & Rosen, Sherwin, 1990. "Male-Female Wage Differentials in Job Ladders," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 8(1), pages 106-123, January.
    11. Grace Lordan & Jörn‐Steffen Pischke, 2022. "Does Rosie Like Riveting? Male and Female Occupational Choices," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 89(353), pages 110-130, January.
    12. 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.
    13. Alex Bryson & John Forth & Lucy Stokes, 2018. "The Performance Pay Premium and Wage Dispersion in Britain," Manchester School, University of Manchester, vol. 86(2), pages 139-154, March.
    14. Ana Rute Cardoso & Rudolf Winter-Ebmer, 2010. "Female-Led Firms and Gender Wage Policies," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 64(1), pages 143-163, October.
    15. Astrid Kunze & Amalia R. Miller, 2017. "Women Helping Women? Evidence from Private Sector Data on Workplace Hierarchies," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 99(5), pages 769-775, December.
    16. Alan Manning & Farzad Saidi, 2010. "Understanding the Gender Pay Gap: What's Competition Got to Do with it?," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 63(4), pages 681-698, July.
    17. Agata Maida & Andrea Weber, 2022. "Female Leadership and Gender Gap within Firms: Evidence from an Italian Board Reform," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 75(2), pages 488-515, March.
    18. Karen Mumford & Peter N Smith, "undated". "The Gender Earnings Gap in Britain," Discussion Papers 04/05, Department of Economics, University of York.
    19. Kunze, Astrid, 2017. "The Gender Wage Gap in Developed Countries," IZA Discussion Papers 10826, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    20. Erica L. Groshen, 1991. "The Structure of the Female/Male Wage Differential: Is It Who You Are, What You Do, or Where You Work?," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 26(3), pages 457-472.
    21. Karen Mumford & Peter N. Smith, 2007. "The Gender Earnings Gap In Britain: Including The Workplace," Manchester School, University of Manchester, vol. 75(6), pages 653-672, December.
    22. Claudia Goldin, 2014. "A Grand Gender Convergence: Its Last Chapter," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 104(4), pages 1091-1119, April.
    23. Usui, Emiko, 2008. "Job satisfaction and the gender composition of jobs," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 99(1), pages 23-26, April.
    24. Dennis J. Aigner & Glen G. Cain, 1977. "Statistical Theories of Discrimination in Labor Markets," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 30(2), pages 175-187, January.
    25. Tate, Geoffrey & Yang, Liu, 2015. "Female leadership and gender equity: Evidence from plant closure," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 117(1), pages 77-97.
    26. David A. Matsa & Amalia R. Miller, 2011. "Chipping Away at the Glass Ceiling: Gender Spillovers in Corporate Leadership," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, pages 635-639.
    27. Nicole M Fortin, 2005. "Gender Role Attitudes and the Labour-market Outcomes of Women across OECD Countries," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press and Oxford Review of Economic Policy Limited, vol. 21(3), pages 416-438, Autumn.
    28. Johannes Ludsteck, 2014. "The Impact of Segregation and Sorting on the Gender Wage Gap: Evidence from German Linked Longitudinal Employer-Employee Data," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 67(2), pages 362-394, April.
    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. Jones, Melanie K. & Kaya, Ezgi, 2022. "Organisational Gender Pay Gaps in the UK: What Happened Post-transparency?," IZA Discussion Papers 15342, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    2. Neyer, Ulrike & Stempel, Daniel, 2021. "Gender discrimination, inflation, and the business cycle," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).

    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. Nikolaos Theodoropoulos & John Forth & Alex Bryson, 2022. "Are Women Doing It for Themselves? Female Managers and the Gender Wage Gap," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 84(6), pages 1329-1355, December.
    2. Keller, Wolfgang & Molina, Teresa & Olney, William W., 2023. "The gender gap among top business executives," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 211(C), pages 270-286.
    3. Alessandra Casarico & Salvatore Lattanzio, 2024. "What Firms Do: Gender Inequality in Linked Employer-Employee Data," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 42(2), pages 325-355.
    4. Iga Magda & Ewa Cukrowska-Torzewska, 2019. "Gender wage gap in the workplace: Does the age of the firm matter?," IBS Working Papers 01/2019, Instytut Badan Strukturalnych.
    5. Mario Bossler & Alexander Mosthaf & Thorsten Schank, 2016. "More Female Manager Hires through More Female Managers? Evidence from Germany," Working Papers 1618, Gutenberg School of Management and Economics, Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz.
    6. Forth, John & Theodoropoulos, Nikolaos, 2022. "Earnings Discrimination in the Workplace," IZA Discussion Papers 15357, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    7. Sarah Louise Jewell & Giovanni Razzu & Carl Singleton, 2020. "Who Works for Whom and the UK Gender Pay Gap," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 58(1), pages 50-81, March.
    8. Hannah Illing & Hanna Schwank & Linh T. Tô, 2024. "Hiring and the Dynamics of the Gender Gap," ECONtribute Discussion Papers Series 339, University of Bonn and University of Cologne, Germany.
    9. John S. Heywood & Daniel Parent, 2017. "Performance Pay, the Gender Gap, and Specialization within Marriage," Journal of Labor Research, Springer, vol. 38(4), pages 387-427, December.
    10. Dalvit, Nicolò & Patel, Aseem & Tan, Joanne, 2022. "Intra-firm hierarchies and gender gaps," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 77(C).
    11. Xing, Lu & Gonzalez, Angelica & Sila, Vathunyoo, 2021. "Does cooperation among women enhance or impede firm performance?," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 53(4).
    12. Wen Li & Kunio Urakawa & Fumihiko Suga, 2023. "Are Social Norms Associated with Married Women’s Labor Force Participation? A Comparison of Japan and the United States," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 44(1), pages 193-205, March.
    13. Christian Pfeifer, 2014. "The Gender Composition of Establishments' Workforces and Gender Gaps in Wages and Leadership Positions," Manchester School, University of Manchester, vol. 82, pages 69-81, December.
    14. Warn N. Lekfuangfu & Grace Lordan, 2023. "Documenting occupational sorting by gender in the UK across three cohorts: does a grand convergence rely on societal movements?," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 64(5), pages 2215-2256, May.
    15. Felipe Benguria, 2020. "Firms, Jobs, and Gender Disparities in Top Incomes: Evidence from Brazil," Upjohn Working Papers 20-338, W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research.
    16. Anne‐Sophie Bruno & Nathalie Greenan & Jeremy Tanguy, 2021. "Does the Gender Mix Influence Collective Bargaining on Gender Equality? Evidence from France," Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 60(4), pages 479-520, October.
    17. Grace Lordan & Jörn‐Steffen Pischke, 2022. "Does Rosie Like Riveting? Male and Female Occupational Choices," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 89(353), pages 110-130, January.
    18. Elise Coudin & Sophie Maillard & Maxime Tô, 2018. "Family, Firms and the Gender Wage Gap in France," Working Papers 2018-09, Center for Research in Economics and Statistics.
    19. Iga Magda & Ewa Cukrowska-Torzewska, 2018. "Do female managers help to lower within-firm gender pay gaps? Public institutions vs. private enterprises," IBS Working Papers 08/2018, Instytut Badan Strukturalnych.
    20. Alexander S. Kritikos & Mika Maliranta & Veera Nippala & Satu Nurmi, 2024. "Does gender of firm ownership matter? Female entrepreneurs and the gender pay gap," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 37(2), pages 1-31, June.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    gender wage gap; female managers; performance pay;
    All these keywords.

    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
    • M52 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Personnel Economics - - - Compensation and Compensation Methods and Their Effects
    • M54 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Personnel Economics - - - Labor Management

    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:qss:dqsswp:1907. 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: Dr Neus Bover Fonts (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/dqioeuk.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.