The Old Boys' Club: Schmoozing and the Gender Gap

S-Tier
Journal: American Economic Review
Year: 2023
Volume: 113
Issue: 7
Pages: 1703-40

Score contribution per author:

4.022 = (α=2.01 / 2 authors) × 4.0x S-tier

α: calibrated so average coauthorship-adjusted count equals average raw count

Abstract

Offices are social places. Employees and managers take breaks together and talk about family and hobbies. In this study, we show that employees' social interactions with their managers can be advantageous for their careers, and that this phenomenon contributes to the gender pay gap. We use administrative and survey data from a large financial institution and exploit quasi-random variation induced by the rotation of managers. We provide evidence that when employees have more face-to-face interactions with their managers, they are promoted at a higher rate. This mechanism could explain a third of the gender gap in promotions at this firm.

Technical Details

RePEc Handle
repec:aea:aecrev:v:113:y:2023:i:7:p:1703-40
Journal Field
General
Author Count
2
Added to Database
2026-01-29