Working Paper: NBER ID: w28216
Authors: Wolfgang Keller; Teresa Molina; William W. Olney
Abstract: This paper examines gender differences among top US business executives using a large executive-employer matched data set spanning the last quarter century. Female executives make up 6% of the sample and exhibit more labor market churning — both higher entry and higher exit rates. Unconditionally, women earn 26% less than men, which decreases to 8% once executive characteristics, firm characteristics, and in particular job title are accounted for. We find that female executives are disproportionately represented in firms with more temporal flexibility and female-friendly corporate cultures, but this does not explain the gender pay gap. Rather, corporate culture is correlated with gender pay gaps within firms; specifically the within-firm gender pay gap is significantly smaller at female-friendly firms.
Keywords: gender gap; business executives; corporate culture; temporal flexibility; gender pay gap
JEL Codes: G30; J33; M14; M52
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| Female executives (M12) | Higher entry rates (G19) |
| Female executives (M12) | Higher exit rates (J63) |
| Corporate practices (M14) | Disproportionate effect on female executive retention (J79) |
| Corporate culture (M14) | Gender pay gap (J31) |
| Female-friendly firms (J16) | Smaller gender pay disparities (J79) |
| Temporal flexibility (C41) | Gender pay gap (J31) |
| Corporate culture (M14) | Decline in conditional pay gap (J79) |