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  4. May 2017
  5. The Role of Firms in Gender Earnings Inequality: Evidence from the United States

American Economic Review

ISSN 0002-8282 (Print) | ISSN 1944-7981 (Online)

The Role of Firms in Gender Earnings Inequality: Evidence from the United States

  • Isaac Sorkin
American Economic Review
vol. 107, no. 5, May 2017
(pp. 384–87)
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Abstract

This paper documents that in the US, men are more likely than women to work in both high-wage firms and high-wage industries. I then ask why this sorting occurs. I consider two main explanations: men and women have different preferences, and men and women have different opportunities. Through the lens of a simple random search model, I find that the dominant explanation for sorting is differences in opportunities. One implication of this result is that women are at firms that offer better nonpay characteristics, and this plays an important role in explaining the gender earnings gap.

Citation

Sorkin, Isaac. 2017. "The Role of Firms in Gender Earnings Inequality: Evidence from the United States." American Economic Review, 107 (5): 384–87. DOI: 10.1257/aer.p20171015

Additional Materials

JEL Classification

  • D22 Firm Behavior: Empirical Analysis
  • J16 Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
  • J31 Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials
  • J71 Labor Discrimination