Title

Sexual Orientation and Labor Market Discrimination

Document Type

Article

Comments

Published by Springer Science & Business Media B.V. in the Journal of Labor Research, volume 28 issue 3, 2007. Bryant users may access this article here.

Keywords

Wage discrimination; Sex orientation; Gay

Publisher

Springer Science & Business Media

Publication Source

Journal of Labor Research

Abstract

We develop empirical estimates of the return to sexual orientation in the labor market and utilize the 2004 Current Population Survey to determine if lesbians and gay men are treated differently from their heterosexual counterparts. We find strong evidence consistent with the hypothesis of discriminatory treatment against gay men, and this evidence differs substantially by occupation. On the other hand, we find no evidence of discrimination against lesbians. These findings are consistent with priors based on economic theory of the standard taste for discrimination and statistical discrimination models. The results for both men and women are consistent across wage and total compensation regressions.

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