This paper studies gender spillovers in career advancement using 11 years of employer-employee matched data on the population of white-collar workers at over 4,000 private-sector establishments in Norway. Our data include unusually detailed job information for each worker, which enables us to define seven hierarchical ranks that are consistent across establishments and over time in order to measure promotions (defined as year-to-year rank increases) even for individuals who change employers. We first find that women have significantly lower promotion rates than men across all ranks of the corporate hierarchy, even after controlling for a range of individual characteristics (age, education, tenure, experience) and including fixed effects for current rank, year, industry, and even work establishment. In measuring the effects of female coworkers, we find positive gender spillovers across ranks (flowing from higher-ranking to lower-ranking women) but negative spillovers within ranks. The finding that greater female representation at higher ranks narrows the gender gap in promotion rates at lower ranks suggests that policies that increase female representation in corporate leadership can have spillover benefits to women in lowers ranks.

Abstract:In this paper we investigate when the male-female wage differential arises: Does it evolve over the early career or does it exist right from entry into first employment? For the analysis we use new administrative longitudinal data for Germany.Models with within firm job rationing or equilibrium matching show that from entry into the first job onwards women will be paid less than men. The main reason is that due to higher quit rates of women, firms are less willing to invest in firm specific training for women. In this paper we document empirically that these models can explain a substantial portion of the gender wage differentials among young skilled workers in Germany.JEL classification: J16, J3, J7

Abstract:This paper reviews the empirical literature on the gender wage gap, with particular attention given to the identification of the key parameters in human capital wage regression models. This is of great importance in the literature for two main reasons. First, the main explanatory variables in the wage model, i.e., measures of work experience and the time-out-of-work, are endogenous. As a result, applying traditional estimators may lead to inconsistent parameter estimates. Second, empirical evidence on the gender wage gap hinges on estimates of the parameters of interest. Accordingly, their economic meaning may be limited by restrictive assumptions included in wage models. This challenges both researchers and policymakers who require precise measures of the gender wage gap in order to create and enforce efficient equality policies.JEL Codes: J16, J3, J71

This study investigates how the …rst childbirth a¤ects the wage processes of women who are well-established in the labour market. We estimate a ‡exible …xed-e¤ects wage regression model extended by post-childbirth …xed e¤ects. We use register data on West Germany and exploit the expansionary family policy during the late 1980s and 1990s for identi…cation. On their return to work after childbirth, mothers'wages drop by 3 to 5.7 per cent per year of leave. We …nd negative selection back to full-time work after childbirth. We discuss policy implications regarding statistical discrimination and results concerning the family gap.JEL codes: C23, J24, J31

Despite the increased attachment of women to the labour force in nearly all developed countries, a stubborn gender pay gap remains. This chapter provides a review of the economics literature on the gender wage gap, with an emphasis on developed countries. We begin with an overview of the trends in the gender differences in wages and employment rates. We then review methods used to decompose the gender wage gap and the results from such decompositions. We discuss how trends and differences in the gender wage gap across countries can be understood in light of non-random selection and human capital differences. We then review the evidence on demand-side factors used to explain the existing gender wage gap and then discuss occupational segregation. The chapter concludes with suggestions for further research.