Job Search Methods: Consequences for Gender-Based Earnings Inequality

Abstract

We extend research on both the job search and gender inequality by examining the effects of various types of job search methods on earnings. Specifically, data from a multistage, area-probability sample of adult residents in three large U.S. cities is used to test (1) whether the types of job search methods used (i.e., “formal” versus “informal“) account for any of the gender gap in earnings and (2) whether the earnings returns to different types of search methods vary by gender. The results indicate that, net of worker characteristics, job search methods account for little of the gender gap in earnings. Thus, the idea that formal search methods play a strong role in reducing this type of gender inequality is not well supported.