Gender Differences in Negotiations and Labor Market Outcomes: Evidence from an Information Intervention with College Students / Patricia Cortés, Jacob French, Jessica Pan, Basit Zafar.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Cortés, Patricia.

Contributor:

National Bureau of Economic Research.

French, Jacob.

Pan, Jessica.

Zafar, Basit.

Series:

Working Paper Series (National Bureau of Economic Research) no. w32154.

NBER working paper series no. w32154

Language:

English

Physical Description:

1 online resource: illustrations (black and white);

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, Mass. National Bureau of Economic Research 2024.

Summary:

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.

Notes:

Print version record

February 2024.