Sekyu Choi
(University of Bristol)
will give a presentation on
What She/He Wants in a Job
Abstract: In this paper we study preference heterogeneity by gender over job characteristics. Using information of both job postings and job seekers from an online job board, we document how job search behavior is strongly influenced by described job characteristics. We proceed in several steps: first, we define consideration sets of job ads for applicants using the network formed by job applicants, where each node is defined by joint applications by job seekers. Second, using text analysis of job descriptions, we identify jobs in terms of requirements and explicit diversity statements, along other characteristics. Third, we estimate application choice decisions by individuals on our entire sample. We document dimensions of jobs which attract females more than males, such as female-wanted, remote work, inclusive policies, and minorities recruiting. We also show that, while all individuals with higher wage expectations prefer inclusive policies, this is stronger for women. Finally, a social-interaction effects model also allows us to estimate that applicants prefer jobs with fewer expected applications, an effect that is larger for females. By providing evidence across the entire wage distribution, this paper differs markedly from most of the related literature, where either experimental settings or surveys of narrow segments of the labor market (e.g., economics undergraduates) may show only part of the story in terms of the root causes of gender differences in labor market outcomes.