Kw. Chauvin et Ra. Ash, GENDER EARNINGS DIFFERENTIALS IN TOTAL PAY, BASE PAY, AND CONTINGENT PAY, Industrial & labor relations review, 47(4), 1994, pp. 634-649
Using data from a 1988 survey of business school graduates, the author
s analyze gender differentials in earnings by form of pat-total pay, b
ase pay, and contingent pay-with controls for human capital, occupatio
n,job level, and individual characteristics. The results indicate that
within narrowly defined occupations and jobs, most of the unexplained
difference in total pay between the men and women in the sample was d
ue to gender differences in the portion of pay that was contingent on
job performance. The greater importance of contingent pay in the earni
ngs of the men than of the women may reflect differential treatment of
men and women by firms, gender differences in performance, gender dif
ferences in risk preferences, or some other sorting mechanism.