Unequal hiring wages and their impact on the gender pay gap

Abstract

Payroll data from Great Britain reveal that men are paid more than women upon entry into firms. Although this hiring wage gap has narrowed over the past two decades, it still accounts for over two-thirds of the steady-state gender pay gap—the wage gap that would eventually prevail under constant employment levels. A significant part of this hiring wage gap is not explained by men and women working in different firms and occupations. Even when hiring men and women into the same job, there remains an unexplained hiring wage gap that favors men by 2.4 log points.