Working Paper: NBER ID: w27054
Authors: Benjamin Hansen; Drew McNichols
Abstract: Aiming to reduce the gender wage gap, several states and cities have recently adopted legislation that prohibits employers from asking about previously earned salaries. The advocates of these salary history bans (SHBs) have suggested pay history perpetuates past discrimination. We study the early net impact of the first state-wide SHBs. Using both difference-in-difference and synthetic control approaches, we find the gender earnings ratio increased by 1 percent in states with SHBs. We find these population wide increases are driven by an increase of the gender earnings ratio for households with all children over 5 years old, by workers over 35, and are principally driven by those who have recently switched jobs.
Keywords: gender wage gap; salary history ban; labor market outcomes
JEL Codes: J16; J3; J31; J42; J48; J58; J7; K0
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| Information asymmetries in labor markets (J49) | wage outcomes (J31) |
| Statewide salary history bans (SHBs) (J79) | gender earnings ratio (J31) |
| Statewide salary history bans (SHBs) (J79) | gender earnings ratio (households with all children over 5 years old) (J31) |
| Statewide salary history bans (SHBs) (J79) | gender earnings ratio (workers over 35) (J31) |
| Statewide salary history bans (SHBs) (J79) | gender earnings ratio (job switchers) (J31) |
| Subgroup analyses reveal substantial increases in earnings for specific groups (older women and job switchers) (J79) | overall population-wide increases in gender earnings ratio (J79) |