Economics Seminar Series: Gender norms and income misreporting within households

You are invited to a seminar by Michaela Slotwinski from the University of Basel & ZEW Mannheim on 'Gender Norms and Income Misreporting within Households'.

Register here to attend.

Abstract:

We demonstrate that individuals’ survey responses are prone to the influence of gender norms. Drawing on unique Swiss data combining survey and administrative information for the same couple, we find that couples where the woman outearns her partner misreport their incomes such that they comply with the male breadwinner norm. This introduces systematic bias into surveyed income measures and has potentially far-reaching implications. The resulting bias leads to a considerable overestimation of policy relevant measures like the gender earnings gap, which is still to a large extent based on survey data. Furthermore, it can lead to false conclusions about individuals' labor market behavior if taken at face value.

All are welcome!