Nature of Work and Distribution of Risk: Evidence from Occupational Sorting, Skills, and Tasks

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Egor Malkov
Keyword(s):  
Author(s):  
Olga Shurchkov ◽  
Catherine C. Eckel

Despite a policy push toward equality, substantial gender gaps in earnings and vertical gender segregation persist in the labor market. Studies point to gender-specific occupational sorting as one of the primary explanatory factors. But why do men and women sort into different careers? In this chapter, we document the evidence that suggests that gender differences along four behavioral traits may offer a plausible explanation. Specifically, the consensus in the literature is that women, on average, exhibit greater risk aversion, lower levels of competitiveness, and less desire to negotiate as compared to men. Gender differences in social preferences are less robust, but women appear to be more sensitive to social context and framing. Importantly, there is no conclusive evidence on whether these differences are inherent or societal for any of the individual traits, although most studies point to the latter.


2000 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
pp. 133-157 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alberto Dávila ◽  
Marie T. Mora

While English proficiency enhances labor market outcomes, its role in minority-language regions remains largely unexplored. Employing the U.S.-Mexico border as a minority-language region, we analyze whether English skills differently affect the earnings and occupational sorting of Mexican Americans along the border relative to their non-border peers. We find comparable English deficiency earnings penalties for Mexican immigrants, suggesting that this group responds to English-specific regional wage gaps. U.S.-born men, however, have a larger earnings penalty along the border, possibly reflecting natives’ relative immobility owing to strong geographic preferences. Occupational sorting exercises give credence to this interpretation for native Mexican American females.


2014 ◽  
Vol 106 ◽  
pp. 335-351 ◽  
Author(s):  
Didier Fouarge ◽  
Ben Kriechel ◽  
Thomas Dohmen

2021 ◽  
Vol 35 (4) ◽  
pp. 223-248
Author(s):  
Carolyn M. Sloane ◽  
Erik G. Hurst ◽  
Dan A. Black

The paper assesses gender differences in pre-labor market specialization among the college-educated and highlights how those differences have evolved over time. Women choose majors with lower potential earnings (based on male wages associated with those majors) and subsequently sort into occupations with lower potential earnings given their major choice. These differences have narrowed over time, but recent cohorts of women still choose majors and occupations with lower potential earnings. Differences in undergraduate major choice explain a substantive portion of gender wage gaps for the college-educated above and beyond simply controlling for occupation. Collectively, our results highlight the importance of understanding gender differences in the mapping between college major and occupational sorting when studying the evolution of gender differences in labor market outcomes over time.


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