The Gender Reservation Wage Gap: Evidence Form British Panel Data

Brown, Sarah; Roberts, Jennifer; Taylor, Karl

doi:10.2139/ssrn.1751439

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The Gender Reservation Wage Gap: Evidence Form British Panel Data

IZA Discussion Paper No. 5457

11 Pages Posted: 31 Jan 2011

See all articles by Sarah Brown

Sarah Brown

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

Karl Taylor

University of Sheffield - Department of Economics

Date Written: Janaury 15, 2011

Abstract

Our findings suggest the existence of a gender reservation wage gap. The presence of children, particularly pre-school age children, plays an important role in determining the proportion of this gap that can be explained by individual characteristics. For individuals without children, the unexplained component of the differential is 99% compared to only 22% for those with pre-school age children, which might indicate that perceived discrimination in the labour market influences the reservation wage setting of females.

Keywords: reservation wages, wage decomposition

JEL Classification: J13, J24, J64

Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation

Brown, Sarah and Roberts, Jennifer and Taylor, Karl B., The Gender Reservation Wage Gap: Evidence Form British Panel Data (Janaury 15, 2011). IZA Discussion Paper No. 5457, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1751439 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1751439