Discrimination, quotas, and wage-transparency rules

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Oliver Gürtler
• Subject Area: Economic Policy, Applied Economics ; Economic Theory
• Term: from 2020 to 2023
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 447657066

Wage differences between different worker groups have been documented in the labor economics literature for a long time. Recently, the economics literature, but also political debates have focused on the gender wage gap between female and male workers. Two important reasons for the existence of the gender wage gap have been identified. First, women tend to be underrepresented in the very well paid jobs in the upper levels of firms’ hierarchies. Second, women tend to receive lower wages even if they perform the same type of job as men, and a possible reason is that men act more aggressively in wage negotiations.To lower the gender wage gaps, two policy instruments have been proposed that are based on the two reasons just outlined. First, quotas have been discussed to increase the number of female workers in top management positions. Second, wage transparency rules are argued to lower wage differences between workers performing the same job.The goal of this project is to investigate the effects of quotas and wage-transparency rules on promotions and wage setting. The main objective is to derive a clear understanding of the benefits of these two instruments in tackling discrimination and lowering wage gaps between groups, but also of the potential pitfalls.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants