Analyzing the Gender Pay Gap in Transition Economies: How Much does Personality Matter?

34 Pages Posted: 27 Jan 2010

See all articles by Anastasia Semykina

Anastasia Semykina

Florida State University

Susan J. Linz

Michigan State University

Date Written: October 31, 2008

Abstract

We use data from an employee survey conducted in Russia, Armenia and Kazakhstan to investigate how much of the gender difference in pay in former socialist economies can be explained by personality. We consider a commonly used personality measure, locus of control (LOC), and find that among the participants of our survey, men are more likely to exhibit an internal LOC (i.e. tend to believe that their success is determined by own actions), while women are more likely to have an external LOC (i.e. more inclined to believe that their success is determined by external forces). Gender differences in LOC are particularly large among Russian employees, while very small in the Kazakhstan sample. Additionally, we find that an internal LOC is associated with higher pay for both male and female participants of the Russian and Armenian surveys. In Kazakhstan, the estimated effects of LOC are positive, but small and imprecise. The results from the Oaxaca-Blinder-Neumark wage gap decomposition indicate that in all three countries, personality is a better explanator of the gender pay gap than are education and tenure combined. Among the participants of the surveys, gender differences in LOC explain 7% of the gender pay in Russia, 5.5% gap in Armenia, and 2.7% in Kazakhstan.

Suggested Citation

Semykina, Anastasia and Linz, Susan J., Analyzing the Gender Pay Gap in Transition Economies: How Much does Personality Matter? (October 31, 2008). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1542202 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1542202

Anastasia Semykina (Contact Author)

Florida State University ( email )

Tallahasse, FL 32306
United States

HOME PAGE: http://mailer.fsu.edu/~asemykina/

Susan J. Linz

Michigan State University ( email )

Department of Economics
110 Marshall Hall
East Lansing, MI 48824
United States
(517) 353-7280 (Phone)
(517) 432-1068 (Fax)

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