An Interdisciplinary Approach to Analyzing the Managerial Gender Gap

Abstract

In analyzing the sources of female-male earnings differences, this paper goes beyond the narrow focus of human-capital theory with its view that the only relevant productive attributes of individuals is their cognitive capabilities. Using a unique firm-level Canadian data set on managerial employees and a "social model" of earnings that includes behavioral and organizational as well as cognitive variables, the paper estimates the determinants of earnings differences in general and the gender gap in particular. The statistical analysis reveals that, for all employees in the sample, experience with the company has a significant positive impact on earnings while a reluctance to leave the company has a negative impact. As for the gender gap, the analysis reveals that the earnings of women are penalized by their disproportionate responsibilities for work in their family homes.