The gender gap in the wage sensitivity of job transitions: a decomposition analysis

Abstract Previous research shows that female workers are less sensitive to wages in their decision to switch jobs than male workers, and that this could explain a substantial part of the gender wage gap. This paper studies to what extent gender differences in preferences and personality traits expla...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Céline Detilleux, Nick Deschacht
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: SpringerOpen 2024-12-01
Series:Journal for Labour Market Research
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Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1186/s12651-024-00387-6
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Summary:Abstract Previous research shows that female workers are less sensitive to wages in their decision to switch jobs than male workers, and that this could explain a substantial part of the gender wage gap. This paper studies to what extent gender differences in preferences and personality traits explain the gender gap in the wage-elasticity of job-to-job transitions in the labor market. Using a novel decomposition approach in the context of mediated moderation and using German Socio-Economic Panel Survey (G-SOEP) data for the period 2005–2019, we find that gender differences in risk preferences, patience, trust, reciprocity, altruism, conscientiousness, ambition and self-esteem explain about 25% of the gender gap in wage-elasticities of job separations. A detailed decomposition suggests that risk preferences, trust and ambition contribute most to this gender gap in wage-elasticity.
ISSN:2510-5027