Working Paper: NBER ID: w20560
Authors: Fatih Guvenen; Greg Kaplan; Jae Song
Abstract: We analyze changes in the gender structure at the top of the earnings distribution in the United States over the last 30 years using a 10% sample of individual earnings histories from the Social Security Administration. Despite making large inroads, females still constitute a small proportion of the top percentiles: the glass ceiling, albeit a thinner one, remains. We measure the contribution of changes in labor force participation, changes in the persistence of top earnings, and changes in industry and age composition to the change in the gender composition of top earners. A large proportion of the increased share of females among top earners is accounted for by the mending of, what we refer to as, the paper floor - the phenomenon whereby female top earners were much more likely than male top earners to drop out of the top percentiles. We also provide new evidence at the top of the earnings distribution for both genders: the rising share of top earnings accruing to workers in the Finance and Insurance industry, the relative transitory status of top earners, the emergence of top earnings gender gaps over the life cycle, and gender differences among lifetime top earners.
Keywords: gender differences; top earners; earnings distribution; glass ceiling; paper floor
JEL Codes: E24; E25; J31
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| increased persistence of female top earners (J79) | rising share of females among top earners (J21) |
| mending of the 'paper floor' (Y20) | increased persistence of female top earners (J79) |
| decrease in likelihood of women dropping out of top percentiles (I24) | mending of the 'paper floor' (Y20) |
| rising share of top earnings in finance and insurance industry (D33) | overall dynamics of top earners (D31) |
| probability of a woman in the top 01 percent dropping to the bottom 99 percent decreases (J16) | increased persistence of female top earners (J79) |
| closing of the gender gap in persistence (I24) | increased persistence of female top earners (J79) |