Gender wage transparency and the gender pay gap: A survey

Summary

The research paper "Gender wage transparency and the gender pay gap: A survey" by Bennedsen, Larsen, and Wei (2023) systematically reviews the existing literature on the effects of increased transparency of gender-segregated wages on the pay gap between men and women in comparable jobs. The methodology involved surveying studies that analyze various pay transparency reforms promoted by countries and supra-national institutions. The authors categorized these reforms based on their content and coverage, focusing on papers that utilized difference-in-difference estimation methods to assess the reforms' impact on the Gender Pay Gap (GPG). From their comprehensive survey, the authors extracted four main findings. Firstly, reform-based studies consistently indicate that pay transparency reforms lead to a reduction in the GPG across nearly all examined countries, with only one exception showing no effect. Secondly, a notable observation in Canada, Denmark, and the UK is that the decrease in the GPG due to transparency reforms stems predominantly from a deceleration in the growth rate of male income, rather than a direct increase in women's pay. Thirdly, the evidence regarding the broader impact of transparency reforms on other labor outcomes, such as employment or working conditions, and firm productivity is described as fragmented. Finally, the study highlights that the monetary implementation costs associated with these transparency reforms are generally small for both individual firms and public administration. These findings collectively support the conclusion that gender wage transparency reforms serve as an effective policy tool for mitigating the gender pay gap.