Declining Bias and Gender Wage Discrimination? A Meta-Regression Analysis

Abstract

This paper extends, tests, and revises a previous meta-regression analysis of the gender wage gap (Stanley and Jarrell 1998). We find that there remains a strong, though dampened, tendency for discrimination estimates to fall, and male researchers still report significantly larger amounts of wage discrimination against women. This extensive research base, containing 104 estimates, suggests that there is less need to correct for selection bias—an indirect sign of lessened discrimination. There is evidence that gender research is changing and improving. Although gender wage discrimination has lessened, the research base still finds a significant gender wage inequality.