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Earnings Discrimination in the Workplace

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Handbook of Labor, Human Resources and Population Economics

Abstract

This chapter provides an overview of theory and empirical evidence on earnings discrimination within the workplace. Earnings discrimination occurs when employees producing work of equal value are differentially remunerated because of their social group. The chapter reviews theories of why employers may discriminate in this way. The chapter then goes on to review research evidence on earnings discrimination as one source of earnings inequality within the workplace. The ability of empirical studies to identify discrimination is discussed, and evidence on the mechanisms through which discrimination may affect earnings is reviewed, covering observational and experimental studies. The research evidence is most plentiful in respect of discrimination by gender. Accordingly, much of the discussion focuses on the role of discrimination in driving a wedge between the wages of men and women. However, the chapter also reviews evidence on earnings discrimination by race or ethnic group. The chapter concludes with a discussion of policy responses.

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Acknowledgments

Responsible Section Editor: Klaus Zimmermann

The article has benefited from valuable comments of the editors and anonymous referees. We also gratefully acknowledge comments from Carl Singleton.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Bayes Business School, City, University of London, London, UK

    John Forth

  2. Department of Economics, University of Cyprus, Nicosia, Cyprus

    Nikolaos Theodoropoulos

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  1. John Forth
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  2. Nikolaos Theodoropoulos
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Correspondence to Nikolaos Theodoropoulos .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. UNU-MERIT & Princeton University, Maastricht, The Netherlands

    Klaus F. Zimmermann

Section Editor information

  1. Center for Population, Development and Labour Economics at UNU – MERIT, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands

    Klaus F. Zimmermann

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Forth, J., Theodoropoulos, N. (2022). Earnings Discrimination in the Workplace. In: Zimmermann, K.F. (eds) Handbook of Labor, Human Resources and Population Economics. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-57365-6_366-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-57365-6_366-1

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