Pay Transparency and Gender Equality

77 Pages Posted: 21 May 2020 Last revised: 13 Dec 2022

See all articles by Emma Duchini

Emma Duchini

University of Essex

Stefania Simion

University of Bristol

Arthur Turrell

Office for National Statistics

Jack Blundell

London School of Economics & Political Science (LSE) - Centre for Economic Performance (CEP)

Date Written: December 12, 2022

Abstract

Since 2018 UK firms with at least 250 employees have been mandated to publicly disclose gender equality indicators. Exploiting variations in this mandate across firm size and time we show that pay transparency closes 18 percent of the gender pay gap by reducing men’s wage growth. The public availability of the equality indicators seems to influence employers’ response as worse performing firms and industries more exposed to public scrutiny reduce their gender pay gap the most. Employers are also 9 percent more likely to post wages in job vacancies, potentially in an effort to improve gender equality at entry level.

Keywords: Gender Pay Gap, Reporting, Information

JEL Classification: J08, J16, J24

Suggested Citation

Duchini, Emma and Simion, Stefania and Turrell, Arthur and Blundell, Jack, Pay Transparency and Gender Equality (December 12, 2022). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3584259 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3584259

Emma Duchini (Contact Author)

University of Essex

Wivenhoe Park
Colchester, , CO4 3SQ
United Kingdom

Stefania Simion

University of Bristol ( email )

University of Bristol,
Senate House, Tyndall Avenue
Bristol, BS8 ITH
United Kingdom

Arthur Turrell

Office for National Statistics ( email )

London, SW1A 2AA
United Kingdom

Jack Blundell

London School of Economics & Political Science (LSE) - Centre for Economic Performance (CEP) ( email )

Houghton Street
London WC2A 2AE
United Kingdom

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