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1. Estimating Firm-, Occupation-, and Job-Level Gender Pay Gaps with U.S. Linked Employer-Employee Population Data, 2005 to 2015

   https://doi.org/10.1177/23780231231157678  

   King, Joseph; Mendoza, Matthew; Penner, Andrew; Rainey, Anthony; Tomaskovic-Devey, Donald (January 2023, Socius: Sociological Research for a Dynamic World)

   Merging 2005 to 2015 Internal Revenue Service, Social Security, and Census records, the authors calculate national average gender pay gaps for various population definitions and then decompose trends in the contribution of firm, occupation, and job segregation to these pay gaps, as well as the size of the average residual “within-job” pay gap. In general, observed segregation tends to explain about half of age, education, and hours of work adjusted gender pay gaps, but the other half remains within occupations in the same firm. Although between-firm pay gaps rose and within-job pay gaps declined through 2009, the authors find little decline in firm- or job-level gender pay gaps after 2009. The results indicate that to reduce gender pay gaps, public policy and employers should target gender disparities in hiring and job assignment as well as potential disparities in pay setting. 

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2. Within-job gender pay inequality in 15 countries

   https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-022-01470-z  

   Penner, Andrew M.; Petersen, Trond; Hermansen, Are Skeie; Rainey, Anthony; Boza, István; Elvira, Marta M.; Godechot, Olivier; Hällsten, Martin; Henriksen, Lasse Folke; Hou, Feng; et al (November 2022, Nature Human Behaviour)

   Abstract Extant research on the gender pay gap suggests that men and women who do the same work for the same employer receive similar pay, so that processes sorting people into jobs are thought to account for the vast majority of the pay gap. Data that can identify women and men who do the same work for the same employer are rare, and research informing this crucial aspect of gender differences in pay is several decades old and from a limited number of countries. Here, using recent linked employer–employee data from 15 countries, we show that the processes sorting people into different jobs account for substantially less of the gender pay differences than was previously believed and that within-job pay differences remain consequential. 

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3. Building Community Understanding of Institutional Compensation Systems: An ADVANCE Partnership Project

   Marchetti, C.; Bailey, M.; Rivero, I.; Bennett, J.; Blackwell, G. (August 2022, ASEE annual conference exposition)

   Institutional structures and systems of power influence salary outcomes and pay practices, which in turn are closely related to the quality of work life, informing our knowledge of what (and who) is important to the organization. This paper reports on a newly awarded NSF ADVANCE Partnership project that aims to significantly expand knowledge of best practices for faculty compensation to a broader community in higher education and provide critical insights to guide compensation practices. The project’s objective is to improve institutional understanding and influence actions regarding pay equity through broader comprehension of compensation structures. Even when controlling for a wide range of demographic and background variables, women earn less than men, and women of color experience an even wider wage gap. In post-secondary education wage gaps persist among faculty, particularly at institutions with the highest levels of research. Project activities have three aims: First, engage administrative units (Human Resources, Institutional Research, Diversity/Inclusion, Legal, and Academic Affairs) in a collaborative relationship supported by university leadership. Second, enhance pay decision-makers’ understanding of and basis for pay decisions, and their ability to communicate to individuals how their pay is determined. Third, increase faculty knowledge of institutional pay practices while emphasizing the importance of inclusion and institutional values. Expected outcomes from this work include improvements in institutional policies and practices, faculty perceptions of pay equity, leadership skills of pay decision-makers, and institutional engagement beyond the project partners. The project involves collaborations with three university partners, two national associations, and two NSF INCLUDES projects. 

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4. Are consumers no longer willing to pay more for local foods? A field experiment

   https://doi.org/10.1017/age.2023.27  

   Davidson, Kelly A; Khanal, Badri; Messer, Kent D (April 2024, Agricultural and Resource Economics Review)

   Abstract Government programs promoting locally produced foods have risen dramatically. But are these programs actually convincing consumers to pay more for locally produced food? Studies to date, which have mostly relied on hypothetical stated preference surveys, suggest that consumers will pay premiums for various local foods and that the premiums vary with the product and presence of any geographic identity. This study reports results from a large field experiment involving 1,050 adult consumers to reveal consumers’ willingness to pay (WTP) premiums for “locally produced” foods – mushrooms and oysters. Despite strong statistical power, this study reveals no positive effect of the locally produced label on consumer WTP. These null results are contrary to most of the existing literature on this topic. The finding that consumers are not willing to pay more for local foods has important implications for state and federal agencies that promote labeling campaigns that seek to increase demand and generate premiums for locally produced foods. 

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5. Measuring Ex Ante Welfare in Insurance Markets

   https://doi.org/10.1093/restud/rdaa015  

   Hendren, Nathaniel (June 2020, The Review of Economic Studies)

   null (Ed.)

   Abstract The willingness to pay for insurance captures the value of insurance against only the risk that remains when choices are observed. This article develops tools to measure the ex ante expected utility impact of insurance subsidies and mandates when choices are observed after some insurable information is revealed. The approach retains the transparency of using reduced-form willingness to pay and cost curves, but it adds one additional sufficient statistic: the percentage difference in marginal utilities between insured and uninsured. I provide an approach to estimate this additional statistic that uses only the reduced-form willingness to pay curve, combined with a measure of risk aversion. I compare the approach to structural approaches that require fully specifying the choice environment and information sets of individuals. I apply the approach using existing willingness to pay and cost curve estimates from the low-income health insurance exchange in Massachusetts. Ex ante optimal insurance prices are roughly 30% lower than prices that maximize observed market surplus. While mandates reduce market surplus, the results suggest they would actually increase ex ante expected utility. 

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