Title
The implicit wage costs of family friendly work practices
Document Type
Journal article
Source Publication
Oxford Economic Papers
Publication Date
4-1-2007
Volume
59
Issue
2
First Page
275
Last Page
300
Publisher
Oxford University Press
Abstract
This paper posits that the provision of family friendly practices is, on balance, costly to firms and valuable to workers. As a consequence, we anticipate the emergence of a hedonic equilibrium in which workers provided with such practices face an implicit reduction in their earnings. Using WERS98 linked employer-employee data, we find that workers overstate their access to family friendly practices. We also find a surprisingly high compensating wage differential of around 20%. However, this result depends critically on a treatment model designed to purge typical estimates of the income effect. It is also largely associated with indicators of flexible working schedules and cannot be replicated for workplace nursery support or working at home.
DOI
10.1093/oep/gpm006
Print ISSN
00307653
E-ISSN
14643812
Publisher Statement
Copyright © Oxford Economic Papers
Access to external full text or publisher's version may require subscription.
Full-text Version
Publisher’s Version
Language
English
Recommended Citation
Heywood, J. S., Siebert, W. S., & Wei, X. (2007). The implicit wage costs of family friendly work practices. Oxford Economic Papers, 59(2), 275-300. doi: 10.1093/oep/gpm006
