Doctoral Dissertation Research in Economics: Worker Beliefs and the Job Application Behavior

造成性别工资差距的最大因素之一是职业和行业的分类。这种分类行为可能是由工人的二阶信念驱动的，二阶信念是通过工作申请决定对其他人的信念的信念。本研究探讨二阶信念是否是一个重要的机制，通过求职决策的性别排序。该研究通过一个结构化的实地实验来探讨这个问题，通过改变招聘经理的性别和产品部门的性别关联来改变相关的二阶信念的广告来征求真实的高薪白领工作的申请。在候选人做出职位申请决定后，通过实验室实验引出他们的二阶信念，以了解这些信念如何影响职位排序。总体而言，这一建议揭示了基于二阶信念的劳动力市场行为，并对设计招聘工具以减轻按性别进行的工作分类和相应的性别工资差距产生了影响。工作分类行为是造成性别工资差距的一个重要因素。关于雇主对男性和女性相对能力的看法，这是二阶信念，可能是某些行业和职业的工作分类的原因。本研究采用现场实验和在线实验相结合的方法，探讨二阶信念对求职决策的影响。在实地实验中，产品线是多种多样的，以反映不同性别传统上青睐的职业，以及管理人员的性别。这两个因素都与工人的二阶信念有关。现场实验之后，通过调查，揭示了第二阶的信念的参与者。通过结合现场和实验室数据，该提案提供了劳动力市场中的二阶信念如何通过工作分类行为对性别工资差距做出贡献的证据。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

AbstractOne of the largest factors contributing to the gender wage gap is sorting across occupations and industries. This sorting behavior may be driven by workers' second-order beliefs, which are beliefs about other people's beliefs, through the job application decision. This research examines whether second-order beliefs are an important mechanism underlying the sorting by gender through the job application decision. The research explores this question with a structured field experiment by soliciting applications for a real high-paying white-collar job using advertisements that vary the relevant second-order beliefs through varying the gender of the hiring manager and the gender associations of the product sector. After the job application decision of the candidates, their second-order beliefs are elicited through a laboratory experiment to understand how these beliefs affect job sorting. Overall, this proposal sheds light on labor market behavior based on second-order beliefs and has implications for designing recruitment tools to mitigate job sorting by gender and the corresponding gender wage gap. Job sorting behavior is an important factor contributing to the gender wage gap. Beliefs about what employers believe about the relative ability of men and women, which are second-order beliefs, may be a reason why there is job sorting to certain industries and occupations. This study combines a field experiment with an online laboratory experiment to determine whether second-order beliefs affect workers' job application decision. In the field experiment, product lines are varied to reflect occupations traditionally favored by different genders, as well as the gender of managers. Both of these factors are relevant for second-order beliefs of workers. The field experiment is followed by a survey to reveal the second order beliefs of the participants. By combining the field and laboratory data, this proposal provides evidence on how second-order beliefs in the labor market contribute to the gender wage gap through job sorting behavior.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.