Deck 12: Discrimination and Male-Female Earnings Differentials

Question 1

Pay equity is the same as:

A) equal pay for men and women on average.
B) equal opportunity for work in the same industry.
C) equal pay for work of equal value.
D) equal pay for work in the same industry
E) equal opportunity for men and women.

Answer 1

C

Question 2

The demand theory of discrimination focuses on which of the following?

A) Females receive lower salaries for the work that they complete.
B) Women have a higher labour force participation rate than men.
C) The demand for female labour is reduced relative to the demand for equally productive male labour.
D) Females are restricted from entering certain occupations, and are thus crowded into other occupations.
E) The demand for female labour relies on the preferences of the hiring committee of each firm.

Answer 2

C

Question 3

A major challenge that is involved in the empirical investigation of wage discrimination is:

A) The Oaxaca decomposition is subject to ability bias.
B) The unexplained wage differentials are larger than the explained differentials.
C) The absence of a comparison group leads to a systematic bias in the estimation of discrimination.
D) Some of the control variables are not really pre-market characteristics, as their values might reflect discrimination rather than cause it.
E) The unexplained wage differentials are too small to estimate.

Answer 3

D

Question 4

Although the view is not unanimous, the consensus in the empirical literature on wage discrimination is that:

A) Even after having controlled for all of the productivity-related factors, there is a degree of wage discrimination against women and minorities, but it is not enormous.
B) The raw wage differential is only a little greater than the differential that remains after controlling for all of the productivity-enhancing characteristics.
C) Blacks do suffer from discrimination, but women do not, once one has controlled for all of the productivity-related factors.
D) Discrimination against women and minorities is greater in the US than in Canada.
E) Discrimination and inequality of opportunities and responsibilities originating from outside of the labour market do not play an important role.

Question 5

The economic concept of value refers to cases in which:

A) The administration of a company determines the wage.
B) The wage is determined by the average value of the inputs, such as skill, effort, responsibility, etc
C) The wage is determined by collective agreements.
D) The wage is determined by the additional output produced by the marginal worker.
E) The wage is determined by the value output produced by an additional unit of labour.

Question 6

Regarding to the empirical research on discrimination in Canada, which of the following is correct?

A) The earning differentials between white and aboriginals have declined recently.
B) More Canadian research is focused on ethnic-white earning differentials.
C) Wage gaps of black workers with high school education are substantially reduced after controlling for differences in ability scores.
D) The research on ethnic-white earning differentials is difficult due to data limitations.
E) Earnings disadvantages for immigrants distribute evenly across the countries of origin of the immigrants.

Question 7

Conventional equal pay legislation requires equal pay for equal work:

A) within the same age group.
B) for workers who have same level of education.
C) across the board.
D) within the same industry.
E) within the same establishment.

Question 8

The basic approach to analyzing whether there is wage discrimination against women is to:

A) compare the actual wage of women to the predicted wage that they would earn given female attributes and coefficients from the male equation.
B) compare the actual mean wage of women to the actual mean wage of men.
C) compare the actual wage of women to the predicted wage that they would earn given female attributes and coefficients from the female equation.
D) compare the actual wage of women to the predicted wage that they would earn given male attributes and coefficients from the male equation.
E) search for anecdotal cases of low-paid women that appear to be affected by discrimination.

Question 9

Recent studies in behavioural economics show that which of the following can NOT explain male-female wage differentials?

A) Females tends to value jobs that emphasize people and family over money
B) Females are more risk averse
C) Females are more antagonistic and disagreeable
D) Females are less competitive
E) None of choices are correct.

Question 10

The administrative concept of value refers to cases in which:

A) The administration of a company determines the wage.
B) The wage is determined by the average value of the inputs, such as skill, effort, responsibility, etc.
C) The wage is determined by the marginal value assessed to features of a job.
D) The wage is determined by the value output produced by an additional unit of labour.
E) The wage is determined by collective agreements.

Question 11

In the context of anti-discrimination policies, facilitating policies include all of the following, except:

A) Policies designed to facilitate the participation of women in the labour market in a non-discriminatory fashion.
B) Policies designed to make it easier for women to enter the labour market and maintain family related responsibilities.
C) Policies designed to raise women's pay to parity with their male counterparts.
D) Policies designed to expand the range of career choices open to women.
E) None of the choices are correct.

Question 12

Which of the following can NOT explain the declining trend of male-female pay gap?

A) Decline in unionization rate among the work force.
B) Improvements in the productivity-related characteristics of females
C) Decline in discriminations against females.
D) Increase in the "knowledge economy" skills of females
E) None of the choices are correct.

Question 13

Considering YM = 40, 000 and YF = 28, 000, YM and YF are average earnings for males and females respectively. The following are estimated simple human capital earning functions: ln YM = 9.2 + 0.1SM, SM = 14; ln YF = 9.4 + 0.07SF; SF = 12; SM and SF are average school years for male and female respectively.
Using Oaxaca decomposition, the unexplained differentials are (in logarithms)?

A) 0.36
B) 0.85
C) 0.20
D) 0.70
E) 0.16

Question 14

When one breaks down the difference in earnings between men and women into the part due to productivity differences and the part due to discrimination, one produces the:

A) the equality equilibrium
B) the Oaxaca decomposition
C) the market premium
D) the male-female earnings gap
E) the market equilibrium wage

Question 15

A few scientific studies have been published, which indicate that the degree of wage discrimination is fairly slight. This claim is based on which of the following points?

A) Women are not as productive as men, ceteris paribus.
B) Women are not as highly educated as men, ceteris paribus.
C) Women are far more likely to have interrupted their careers for family-related responsibilities.
D) Women are not given as many opportunities as men.
E) Women are lack of motivation and confidence when comparing to men.

Question 16

In the context of anti-discrimination policy, what is meant by the term administrative concept of value?

A) A worker's value is determined by his/her assessment, assuming that it is done reasonably.
B) A worker's value is determined by his or her own marginal product of labour in the labour market.
C) A worker's value is determined by supply and demand forces.
D) A worker's value is determined by the average value of his/her wage determining features, such as skill, effort, responsibility, and working conditions.
E) A worker's value is evaluated by the administrators that he or she reports to.

Question 17

Which of the following policies to combat labour market discrimination is likely to have the most far-reaching impact?

A) conventional equal pay policies
B) equal employment opportunity legislation
C) comparable worth or pay equity
D) employment equity legislation
E) facilitating policies

Question 18

The sources of discrimination include all of the following, EXCEPT:

A) male co-workers.
B) productivity differences.
C) customers.
D) systemic human resource management practices in the labour market.
E) employers.

Question 19

Which of the following public policies is not among the primary ones employed to combat discrimination?

A) Equal employment opportunity legislation
B) Equal pay legislation
C) Labour standard requirements
D) Policies designed to facilitate female employment
E) All of the choices are part of the public policies.

Question 20

The supply theory of discrimination focuses on which of the following?

A) Women have a higher labour force participation rate than men
B) The supply of female labour is reduced relative to the demand of female labour.
C) The supply of female labour relies on the preferences of the hiring committee of each firm.
D) Females receive lower salaries for the typical "male-type" jobs.
E) The supply of female labour to certain occupations or industries is increased as a result of discrimination.

Question 21

The literature treating the question of wage discrimination against homosexuals has tended to find that:

A) Gay men face discrimination more than lesbian women do.
B) Gay men face less discrimination than lesbian women do.
C) Both gay men and lesbian women face substantial discrimination.
D) Neither gay men nor lesbian women face discrimination.
E) The data that are required to research the issue do not exist.

Question 22

Which of the following is the finding from the evaluation of Ontario Pay Equity legislation?

A) There is a small increase in female employment in large firms.
B) There is a reduction in the male-female wage gap in female-dominated jobs.
C) There is no substantial impact on women's wage in male-dominated jobs.
D) There is an increase of female wage in male-dominated jobs.
E) There is a reduction in male wage in the male-dominated jobs.

Question 23

The crowding hypothesis states that:

A) Females will receive a lower salary in executive-level employment.
B) Females tend to be segregated into "female-type" jobs.
C) Females receive lower salaries for the typical "male-type" jobs.
D) Females will not be hired when there is a lack of jobs.
E) Females tend to receive the smallest offices, in case of crowded office spaces.

Question 24

It is thought that the most important source of labour market discrimination facing women is that:

A) White collar women reach the glass ceiling.
B) Women on average do not have the same levels of productive characteristics as men.
C) Women are often segregated into low-wage establishments and industries.
D) In many cases, women are not receiving equal pay for equal work.
E) None of the choices are correct.

Question 25

Congratulations! You have just been appointed to a commission studying wage discrimination again women. Again, you have been pushed from the frying pan into the fire, as this is a sensitive topic. It i your role to give the background report to the commission, who will subsequently make some recommendations for anti-discrimination policy.
• There are several theoretical models of labour market discrimination that seek to explain why me and women with equal productivity levels may not be paid the same. Briefly describe in intuitive terms the demand-side approach, the supply-side approach (the crowding hypothesis), and the
non-competitive approach involving barriers to mobility.
• It is true that, on average, women spend less time in the labour market gaining experience,
on-the-job training, and other forms of human capital than men do, which is often tied to childbearin responsibilities. Some apologists claim that lower pay for women might be justified, as employers have less of an incentive to invest in workers with higher turnover. On the other hand, this line of reasoning has been countered by some analysts. What is the nature of the critique of those who disagree with the apologists? (An apologist would say that the pay differentials are justifiable based o productivity and that there is no direct discrimination against women.)
• Like many other issues raised in this textbook, the conceptual models take us only so far in our analysis. Empirical research on male-female earnings differentials is required to assess the validity of the models. The extent of the wage discrimination is typically measured by the so-called Oaxaca decomposition effect. Without getting into the technical details of this equation, explain the general
idea of the procedure. You should describe the major elements. No graph is necessary.
• Finally, describe the essence of the vast empirical literature on the male-female wage differential. You should include a mention of the occupational effect on wages. Has the gap been increasing or decreasing over time?

Question 26

Which element of the Oaxaca Decomposition reflects the wage discrimination?

A) The differences in the predicted wages between men and women
B) The explained component of the wage differential
C) The differences in the attributes between men and women
D) The differences in the estimated coefficients between the male and the female wage equations
E) None of the choices are correct.

Question 27

Considering YM = 40, 000 and YF = 28, 000, YM and YF are average earnings for males and females respectively. The following are estimated simple human capital earning functions: ln YM = 9.2 + 0.1SM, SM = 14; ln YF = 9.4 + 0.07SF; SF = 12; SM and SF are average school years for male and female respectively.
What is female and male wage ratio in logarithms?

A) 0.7
B) -0.36
C) 0.36
D) 0.01
E) 0.02