ERIC Number: ED648143
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 2024-Feb
Pages: N/A
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Gender Differences in Negotiations and Labor Market Outcomes: Evidence from an Information Intervention with College Students. Working Paper 32154
Patricia Cortés; Jacob French; Jessica Pan; Basit Zafar
National Bureau of Economic Research
We assess the role of information gaps in understanding gender differences in negotiation behavior by conducting a randomized information experiment on the 2018 to 2020 graduating cohorts of undergraduate business majors from Boston University. Prior to starting their job search, treated students were provided with objective information about the gender gap in negotiation among their peers along with the earnings changes conditional on negotiating. We find sizable immediate effects on negotiation intentions that persist to actual negotiation behavior, particularly for men. While the treatment affects women's negotiation behavior through belief-updating, the effects on men's behavior are primarily through increased salience of the information. Further, we find some evidence that gender-specific treatment spillovers likely contribute to the smaller average treatment effects on behavior for women. Overall, our findings suggest that such information interventions can help to nudge women who have potentially large financial returns to negotiation to realize these gains.
Descriptors: Gender Differences, Employment, Business Administration Education, Salaries, Salary Wage Differentials, Comparable Worth, Intervention, Attitude Change, Undergraduate Students, Behavior Change
National Bureau of Economic Research. 1050 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02138-5398. Tel: 617-588-0343; Web site: http://www.nber.org
Publication Type: Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: National Science Foundation (NSF), Division of Social and Economic Sciences (SES); Ministry of Education (MOE) (Singapore)
Authoring Institution: National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)
Identifiers - Location: Massachusetts (Boston)
Grant or Contract Numbers: 1824469