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Unfair tournaments: gender stereotyping and wage discrimination among Italian graduates

Author

Listed:
  • Carolina Castagnetti

    (Department of Economics and Management, University of Pavia)

  • Luisa Rosti

    (Department of Economics and Management, University of Pavia)

Abstract

This paper addresses the gender pay gap among Italian university graduates on entry to the labor market, and stresses the importance of gender stereotypes on subjective assessment of individual productivity. We build upon previous research about gender and wage inequality introducing tournament theory as a convenient framework for the gender pay gap analysis. We hypothesize that the effects of gender stereotypes make occupational tournaments unfair. As a consequence, male workers have higher probabilities of winning the wage competition. Our data show that in contexts where the stereotype is most likely to occur, making tournaments less fair, the unexplained component of the gender pay gap is higher.

Suggested Citation

  • Carolina Castagnetti & Luisa Rosti, 2012. "Unfair tournaments: gender stereotyping and wage discrimination among Italian graduates," DEM Working Papers Series 010, University of Pavia, Department of Economics and Management.
    • Handle: RePEc:pav:demwpp:demwp0010
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    File URL: http://dem-web.unipv.it/web/docs/dipeco/quad/ps/RePEc/pav/demwpp/DEMWP0010.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

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    2. Töpfer, Marina & Castagnetti, Carolina & Rosti, Luisa, 2016. "Discriminate me - if you can! The Disappearance of the Gender Pay Gap among Public-Contest Selected Employees," VfS Annual Conference 2016 (Augsburg): Demographic Change 145905, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Labor market; Italy; Gender pay gap; Stereotypes; Tournaments;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • J7 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor Discrimination
    • J3 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs

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