Do Women Ask?

29 Pages Posted: 19 Sep 2016

See all articles by Benjamin Artz

Benjamin Artz

University of Wisconsin - Oshkosh - College of Business

Amanda H. Goodall

IZA Institute for the Study of Labor

Andrew J. Oswald

University of Warwick - Department of Economics; IZA Institute of Labor Economics

Abstract

Women typically earn less than men. The reasons are not fully understood. Previous studies argue that this may be because (i) women 'don't ask' and (ii) the reason they fail to ask is out of concern for the quality of their relationships at work. This account is difficult to assess with standard labor-economics data sets. Hence we examine direct survey evidence. Using matched employer-employee data from 2013-14, the paper finds that the women-don't-ask account is incorrect. Once an hours-of-work variable is included in 'asking' equations, hypotheses (i) and (ii) can be rejected. Women do ask. However, women do not get.

Keywords: matched employer-employee data, female discrimination, wages, gender

JEL Classification: J31, J71

Suggested Citation

Artz, Benjamin and Goodall, Amanda H. and Oswald, Andrew J., Do Women Ask?. IZA Discussion Paper No. 10183, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2840107 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2840107

Benjamin Artz (Contact Author)

University of Wisconsin - Oshkosh - College of Business ( email )

United States

Amanda H. Goodall

IZA Institute for the Study of Labor ( email )

Schaumburg-Lippe-Str. 5-9
Bonn, 53113
Germany

Andrew J. Oswald

University of Warwick - Department of Economics ( email )

Coventry CV4 7AL
United Kingdom
523510 (Phone)

IZA Institute of Labor Economics

Schaumburg-Lippe-Str. 7 / 9
Bonn, D-53072
Germany

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