Assessing the gender gap in just earnings and its underlying mechanisms

We report new theoretical and empirical developments in the study of the gender gap in just earnings - the earnings regarded as just, in the eyes of observers - estimating both the gap and the mechanisms by which just earnings are produced. Four models previously presented are elaborated to include effects of experience as well as education; data from a new and larger sample are used; and improved procedures for measuring the just reward are introduced. Results show that the gender gap in perceived just earnings has closed for these respondents but that gender-related differences persist in the mechanisms by which just earnings are produced.