TY - JOUR T1 - The Gender Wage Gap among Young Adults in the United States JF - Journal of Human Resources JO - J Hum Resour SP - 884 LP - 918 DO - 10.3368/jhr.43.4.884 VL - 43 IS - 4 AU - Nicole M. Fortin Y1 - 2008/10/02 UR - http://jhr.uwpress.org/content/43/4/884.abstract N2 - Using two single-cohort longitudinal surveys, the NLS72 and the NELS88, I investigate the impact of four noncognitive traits—self-esteem, external locus of control, the importance of money/work and the importance of people/ family—on wages and on the gender wage gap among these young workers. I find that gender differences in these noncognitive factors, especially the importance of money/work, have a modest but significant role in accounting for the gender wage gap. Methodologically, this paper proposes a correction to the Oaxaca-Blinder-Ransom decomposition that results in a truly decomposable approach compatible with the simple pooled regression that includes a gender dummy. ER -