Working Paper: NBER ID: w22961
Authors: Christine L. Exley; Muriel Niederle; Lise Vesterlund
Abstract: Gender differences in the propensity to negotiate are often used to explain the gender wage gap, popularizing the push for women to “lean-in.” We use a laboratory experiment to examine the effect of leaning-in. Despite men and women achieving similar and positive returns when they must negotiate, we find that women avoid negotiations more often than men. While this suggests that women would benefit from leaning-in, a direct test of the counterfactual proves otherwise. Women appear to positively select into negotiations and to know when to ask. By contrast, we find no significant evidence of a positive selection for men.
Keywords: gender differences; negotiation; lean in; gender wage gap
JEL Codes: C9; J01; J16
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| Women enter negotiations (J16) | Financial outcomes (G39) |
| Forcing women to negotiate (J16) | Financial losses (G33) |
| Negotiation ability (C78) | Likelihood to enter negotiations (C78) |
| Women achieve financial gains (J16) | Positive selection into negotiations (C78) |
| Men's negotiation decisions (C78) | Fairness concerns (D63) |
| Forcing women to negotiate (J16) | No additional financial gains (G19) |