Gender-Specific Application Behavior, Matching, and the Residual Gender Earnings Gap

Abstract

"To understand the interaction between gender-specific application behavior, hiring behavior and the residual gender earnings gap, we derive testable implications from a two-stage matching model. Using the German IAB Job Vacancy Survey, we find that women's application probability is substantially lower at high-wage than at low-wage firms. By contrast, women are as likely to be hired as men when applying at high-wage firms. These patterns are consistent with high-wage firms demanding greater employer-side flexibility, but not with taste-based discrimination but. Adding the share of male applicants as a proxy for flexibility requirements to Mincerian wage regressions reduces the residual earnings gap by approximately 50 to 60 percent. Women matching at jobs with a high share of male applicants earn substantially more than those at comparable jobs with only women in the applicant pool. However, when women with children match at these jobs, they face substantial earnings discounts relative to men." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))

Cite article

Lochner, B. & Merkl, C. (2022): Gender-Specific Application Behavior, Matching, and the Residual Gender Earnings Gap. (LASER discussion papers 139), Erlangen, 55 p.