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Journal of Labor Economics Vol. 28 No. 2 2010

New Market Power Models and Sex Differences in Pay

Michael R. Ransom1,2; Ronald L. Oaxaca3,4

1 Brigham Young University · 2 IZA - Institute of Labor Economics · 3 United States Department of Labor · 4 University of Arizona

Abstract

In the context of certain models, it is possible to infer the elasticity of labor supply to the firm from the elasticity of the quit rate with respect to the wage. We use this strategy to estimate the elasticity of labor supply for men and women workers at a chain of grocery stores, identifying separation elasticities from differences in wages and separation rates across different job titles within the firm. We estimate that women have lower elasticities, so a Robinson‐style monopsony model can explain reasonably well the lower relative pay of women in the retail grocery industry.

DOI
10.1086/651245
Volume
28
Issue
2
Pages
267-289
Language
en
Sources
openalex crossref

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