Gender segregation in the workforce and the role of worker preferences
Abstract/Contents
- Abstract
- We use matched employer-employee data from Census's Longitudinal Employer-Household Dynamics (LEHD) database to uncover substantial shifts in the distribution of gender shares across firms in the U.S. between 1992 and 2010. This is despite our finding that indices of gender segregation declined only slightly over this period. Systematic segregation (segregation above what would be expected from random allocations of workers to firms) is shown to exist. Most, but not all, of this is found to be attributable to sorting across industries. Estimates of systematic segregation are shown to be sensitive to the choice of reference group used to normalize segregation measures, demonstrating that the extent of systematic segregation may have been overestimated in previous studies. We also provide a model in which profit maximizing firms have an incentive to hire workforces with a gender balance that is desirable to future employees whom they would like to hire. An analysis of hiring and separations patterns suggests that firms hire and workers separate in such a way that a steady state share of workers is maintained, but that these steady states differ by firm. An examination of the probability with which individual workers separate uncovers the counter-intuitive finding that the greater the share of one's own gender within the firm, the more likely men and women are to separate. Alternative theories to explain this finding are discussed.
Description
| Type of resource | text |
|---|---|
| Form | electronic; electronic resource; remote |
| Extent | 1 online resource. |
| Publication date | 2015 |
| Issuance | monographic |
| Language | English |
Creators/Contributors
| Associated with | Groves, Vivienne |
|---|---|
| Associated with | Stanford University, Graduate School of Business. |
| Primary advisor | Lazear, Edward P |
| Thesis advisor | Lazear, Edward P |
| Thesis advisor | Benkard, C. Lanier |
| Thesis advisor | Oyer, Paul E. (Paul Edward), 1963- |
| Advisor | Benkard, C. Lanier |
| Advisor | Oyer, Paul E. (Paul Edward), 1963- |
Subjects
| Genre | Theses |
|---|
Bibliographic information
| Statement of responsibility | Vivienne Groves. |
|---|---|
| Note | Submitted to the Graduate School of Business. |
| Thesis | Thesis (Ph.D.)--Stanford University, 2015. |
| Location | electronic resource |
Access conditions
- Copyright
- © 2015 by Vivienne Susan Elizabeth Groves
- License
- This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial 3.0 Unported license (CC BY-NC).
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