THE GIFT AND REQUEST NETWORK - DIFFERENCES BETWEEN WOMEN AND MEN IN THE RECEIPT AND THE EFFECT OF INFORMATION CONCERNING THE LABOR-MARKET

Women and men differ in their earnings. Even when the data are control led for education, age and experience, differences in earnings between women and men are still found. In this study differences in search be haviour between women and men are examined as an explanation for this gender wage gap. To examine the kind of information women and men rece ive, their social networks are divided into the 'gift' network and the 'request' network. The gift network-family and close friends - provid e information about the labour market. The hypothesis was formulated t hat members of the gift network are more willing to give this informat ion to men than to women. In the request network giving information to men than to women. In the request network, giving information is due to a specific procedure: men and women ask for information and members of this network (i.e. teachers, employers) give information about the labour market. Assuming that it is more important for men to have a j ob than it is for women, men ask and get more information from this re quest network According to the U-curve between finding a job and posit ion on the labour market the hypothesis was formulated that respondent s who find their jobs by means of formal search behaviour get better j obs than those who find their jobs by means of informal search behavio ur. To test the above-mentioned hypothesis a study was carried out. A sample of 54 male and female respondents who ezxpected to graduate fro m a higher vocational course kept a diary In this diary we asked the w omen and men to write down every day if they received information abou t the labour market and from whom they received it. The results suppor t most of the hypothesis. This means, however, that differences in sea rch behaviour do not explain differences in salary between women and m en: men receive more information but this is not effective in finding the best jobs. For the distribution of the best jobs, search behaviour is, however, more important for women than for men.