Solution Manual for Economics of Women, Men and Work, The, 7/E 7th Edition Francine D Blau,

Solution Manual for Economics of Women, Men and

Work, The, 7/E 7th Edition Francine D Blau, Anne E
Winkler, Marianne A Ferber

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Chapter 9: Other Supply-Side Sources of Gender
Differences in Labor Market Outcomes: On-the-Job
Training, Family Gaps, Psychological Attributes, and
Math Test Scores

Overview

On-the-Job Training and Labor Market Experience

Gender Differences in Labor Market Experience

The On-the-Job Training Investment Decision

General Training

Firm-Specific Training

Why Do Firms Pay Tuition Benefits?

Experience and Productivity

Gender Differences in Training Investment Decisions

Expected Work Life

Discrimination

Occupations and Earnings

Family-Related Earnings Gaps

Traditional Gender Roles and Gender Wage Gaps

Women’s Greater Responsibility for Housework and Caregiving

Gender Differences in Quitting

Gender and the Location of the Family

Wage Penalties and Premiums Associated with Marriage and Parenthood

Male Marriage Premium

Motherhood Wage Penalty

Gender Differences in Psychological Attributes

Attitudes toward Negotiating

Attitudes toward Competition

Attitudes toward Risk

Gender Differences in the “Big Five” Personality Traits

A Closer Look at Gender Differences in Math Test Scores

Conclusion

Suggested Answers to End of Chapter Questions

Notes to Users:

The answers that follow should be regarded only as a starting point for complete answers.

Complete answers may vary in length and content, depending on the instructors’

emphasis in the course and any additional readings made available to students. In

addition, some questions call for students to argue for a particular position, speculate

about an issue, or draw from their own experience. In these cases, we have sometimes

simply indicated the types of factors students might discuss in their answers. In other

instances we have sketched out one possible answer, but other alternatives may also be

acceptable.
* Indicates that the question can be answered using a diagram illustrating the

individual’s human capital investment decision as well as verbally. Consult with your

instructor about the appropriate approach for your class.

1. As a future worker, explain the potential costs and benefits to you of obtaining highly-

specialized training from a particular firm.*

There are both benefits and costs to obtaining highly-specialized training. One of

the benefits of such training are the higher earnings trained workers should expect

to receive relative to untrained workers after the training period is completed.

Workers with highly-specialized training may also face lower probabilities of

being laid-off or fired if the training is firm specific because firms do not want to

lose these investments; human capital theory posits that firms pay a portion of the

costs of providing firm-specific training. The costs associated with obtaining

highly-specialized training include reduced wages during the training period. In

addition, if workers anticipate that they will take some time out of the labor force

(perhaps to raise children), they may lose the investment they made during the

training period (in the form of a reduced wage during this period). This is true

because if their highly-specialized training is firm specific, it is not portable to

other firms. Hence, firms will not reward workers with highly-specialized

training from another firm and thus workers will receive a lower wage at the new

employer than what was earned at the original employer where the training was

provided. If their highly-specialized training is not firm specific, they are still

likely to face a “thinner” market as they seek to return to employment after a

 period of time out of the labor force since their training is likely to be useful in a

relatively small number of applications.

2. What are the main reasons why women frequently invested less in-on-the-job

training than men? What changed this tendency?* What government or employer

policies would be likely to accelerate this change?

Women frequently invested less in on-the-job-training because, given women’s

greater labor market interruptions due to raising children, it did not make

economic sense (according to the benefit-cost calculation) to incur the costs when

the expected benefit horizon was short. Firm-specific training, in particular, is

only beneficial to the individual if she remains with the firm but is not valuable if

she leaves, so women would particularly avoid it. As women have anticipated

working more continuously (and at the same firm, especially given policy changes

as discussed below), this has changed the calculation. In other words, O-J-T has

become an increasingly valuable career investment.

In terms of Figure 9-3, a growing willingness of women to invest in O-J-T may be

shown by a shift of II′ to the left, as women reduce workforce interruptions and

stay in the labor force more continuously. This increases the benefits to this

investment for them and thus increases their willingness to undertake such

investments.

There are several government and employer policies that would likely accelerate

the human capital accumulation of women. One group of such measures are
 family leave policies that provide both male and female employees with the

ability to take a short period of time away from work for child care or family

emergencies without the threat of job loss. Thus, employees who anticipate an

interrupted worklife may still find it worthwhile to invest in human capital if they

believe that short disruptions will not force them to sever their ties to their

employers. Effective enforcement of anti-discrimination legislation also increases

the benefits to women of accumulating human capital.

3. It is claimed that employers are reluctant to hire women for some jobs because of

their higher expected quit rates. Assuming women are more likely to quit, use

human capital theory to explain what kind of jobs an employer would be

especially reluctant to hire women for. Explain the reasons for the employer’s

reluctance.* How valid do you think such employer assumptions about women

are today?

Assuming women are more likely to quit than men, human capital theory predicts

that women will not be offered jobs that require a high degree of firm-specific

training. Since the costs of such training are borne by both the worker and the

firm, firms are more likely to lose their share of the investment in firm-specific

training if they provide such training to women compared to men. Thus, women

will be relegated to jobs that require little or no firm-specific training, although, at

least in theory, women would not be disadvantaged in terms of jobs that require

general training, since the costs associated with this type of training are borne

entirely by the employee.

The above may be illustrated with reference to Figure 9-2 which presents a

graphical representation of the costs and benefits of firm-specific training,

highlighting the way in which firms and employees share the costs and benefits of

firm-specific training. Students should indicate how the employer’s benefits from

the investment in firm specific training are reduced if the worker does not stay

with the firm.

Although female participation rates are approaching those of men, women are still

more likely to experience labor force disruptions and will probably continue to

have higher quit rates on average. This suggests that the assumption that women

are more likely to quit than men probably has some validity. However, it is likely

that these differences have diminished considerably as women have become more

firmly attached to the labor force.

[Note to the instructor: as discussed in Chapter 11, a number of studies have

found that most of the difference in quit rates between men and women is

explained by the types of jobs women tend to be in and other individual

characteristics. These findings suggest that, when a woman worker is confronted

with the same incentives to remain on the job in terms of wages, advancement

opportunities, and so on, a woman is no more likely to quit than a comparable

male worker. Thus, the assumption that women are more likely to quit may not

be valid, even if their average quit rates are higher.]

4. Do the effects of marriage and children have different effects on women’s and

men’s wages and, if so, why?

Yes, family affects women and men differently. Men tend to get an earnings

boost from marriage. One reason, which has received empirical support, is that

marriage makes them more productive. For instance, they may benefit from their

wives’ counsel and advice, as well as the greater share of housework wives tend

to take on. However, the positive relationship may not be fully causal. It may also

be that, at least to some extent, men who marry tend to have characteristics that

are more valuable in the labor market. Further, fathers receive an earnings boost

from children, especially from boys. One explanation is that children may spur

the father to work harder to support the family.

Turning to women, it is not so much marriage but the presence of children that

affects their wages. For women, there is strong evidence that children are

associated with a wage penalty. This is the case even when comparing women

with and without children who have the same productive characteristics (e.g.

education, years of labor market experience). Among the explanations, mothers

may end up having to leave their jobs after the birth of a child, resulting in the

loss of firm-specific human capital. (The FMLA of 1993 has ameloriated this

somewhat). Other explanations are that women may tradeoff wages for greater

flexilibility at work, housework may reduce available effort at their paid jobs, or

employers may perceive employed mothers negatively.

Solution Manual for Economics of Women, Men and Work, The, 7/E 7th Edition Francine D Blau,

5. What is your attitude toward negotiating? How might the research discussed here

inform your future behavior or the behavior of others to whom you might be

giving advice?

Of course, answers to this question will vary. In answering this question, the

student might imagine him/herself: 1) asking a boss for a raise; or 2) asking a boss

for a promotion. In these circumstances, how would the student likely proceed?

The student can then consider how his/her behavior (or that of others) would

change given that the student now knows that wages and job assignment may be

“negotiable” and that it is common practice to negotiate about them.

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