Outside Offers and the Gender Pay Gap: Empirical Evidence from the UK

Using a unique data source on academic economist labour market experiences, we explore gender, pay and promotions. In addition to earnings and productivity measures, we have information on outside offers and perceptions of discrimination. In contrast to the existing literature, we find both a gender promotions gap and a within-rank gender pay gap. A driving factor may be the role of outside offers: men receive more outside offers than women of comparable characteristics, and gain higher pay increases in response to outside offers. This may arise due to discrimination, and we find that perceptions of discrimination and also outside job applications correlate with an individual receiving earnings below that expected, given their characteristics.