Does the Gig Economy Discriminate Against Women? Evidence from Physicians in China
93 Pages Posted: 1 Sep 2022 Last revised: 26 Jul 2023
Abstract
This paper investigates gender gaps in the gig economy in a developing country. Using novel data from a major Chinese online healthcare platform, I show that female physicians charge 2.3% lower prices and provide 11.0% fewer consultations than males. I consider several channels to explain this pattern and find evidence that the gaps are due to discrimination. Patients penalize female physicians more for not providing information about work experience and reward them more for providing a strong positive signal about quality, such as a senior professional title. Over time, the revelation of work experience by physicians leads to the elimination of the gender penalty. The platform's design, particularly its ranking algorithm, plays an important role in enlarging gender gaps. The ranking algorithm amplifies and perpetuates the gaps by taking historical consultations (and thus pre-existing discrimination) into account and placing fewer females at the top of search results. I cast doubt on several other alternative explanations and conduct a series of robustness checks.
Keywords: Online skilled labor markets, Gender gap, Algorithm, Statistical Discrimination
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