Research

Work in Progress

Beyond Social Mobility - The Gender-Class Pay Gap  [EUI Research News] 

joint project with David Wittekopf

Abstract: ”We analyze whether socioeconomic family background influences labor market outcomes later in life. Using mediation analysis on data from the German Socioeconomic Panel (2010–2019), our findings reveal that even after achieving upward social mobility, individuals of lower socioeconomic background earn significantly less labor income than peers of comparable current socioeconomic position but higher socioeconomic family background. We call this difference in labor income between people of different socioeconomic backgrounds class pay gap. Crucially, when analyzing women and men separately, we find that the class pay gap is almost entirely driven by men. Among women, the socioeconomic family background is not associated with significant differences in pay. Remarkably, however, women from high class backgrounds earn significantly less than men from low class backgrounds, even when controlling for occupational sorting, education, part-time work, and other relevant factors. This highlights a striking reality: even the most privileged women earn less than the least privileged men. We believe our findings add a new dimension to the discussion on the gender pay gap. Moreover, they emphasize they throw light on the role of social family background in shaping labor market outcomes."

Presented at (* if presented by coauthor): Bocconi-EIEF-World Bank Workshop: Mend the Gap in Economic Opportunities in Europe and Central Asia 2025 (Rome)*; 15th Annual Meeting of the Armenian Economic Association 2025 (Yerevan); EuroCIM – European Causal Inference Meeting 2025 (Ghent)*; 3rd Essex PhD Conference in Applied Economics 2025 (Colchester); EUI Microeconometrics Working Group 2024 (Florence)

Wind of Structural Change

The Economic Transformation of East Germany and Occupational Status Gaps

joint project with Robert Schall & David Wittekopf

Abstract: Follows soon.

Presented at (* if presented by coauthor): 15th Annual Meeting of the Armenian Economic Association 2025 (Yerevan)*; EuroCIM – European Causal Inference Meeting 2025 (Ghent)