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The Effects of Negotiation Skills on Labor Market Outcomes and the Gender Pay Gap

Last registered on April 09, 2020
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
The Effects of Negotiation Skills on Labor Market Outcomes and the Gender Pay Gap
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0005701
Initial registration date
April 09, 2020

Initial registration date is when the trial was registered.

It corresponds to when the registration was submitted to the Registry to be reviewed for publication.

First published
April 09, 2020, 10:58 AM EDT

First published corresponds to when the trial was first made public on the Registry after being reviewed.

Locations

Country
Thailand
Region

Primary Investigator

Name
Taeho Kim
Affiliation
University of Chicago
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Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Ratchanon Chotiputsilp
PI Affiliation
Erasmus University
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Additional Trial Information

Status
In development
Start date
2020-04-10
End date
2020-10-01
Keywords
Education, Gender, Labor
Additional Keywords
JEL code(s)
Secondary IDs
Abstract
A widely-held explanation for the gender pay gap is that women do not negotiate salary as much as men. Recent surveys indicate 59% of US employees accepted the salary they were first offered, and did not negotiate. 68% of women did not negotiate while 52% of men did not. Job candidates may not be realizing their full labor market potential by not negotiating. Can we help candidates improve job search outcomes by teaching negotiation skills? Can we help close the gender pay gap in this way?

We will conduct a field experiment in Thailand to give job seekers online training on salary negotiation. The negotiation training aims to teach them that job interview process is a two-way bargaining process with potential room to negotiate. It teaches them ways of pursuing mutual benefits Also, the training gives them tools for advocating for one's value -- qualitatively and through market expected wages. At the same time, it teaches ways of navigating the negotiation process giving them the adequate communication skills and lower psychological costs in initiating negotiation.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Chotiputsilp, Ratchanon and Taeho Kim. 2020. "The Effects of Negotiation Skills on Labor Market Outcomes and the Gender Pay Gap." AEA RCT Registry. April 09. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.5701-1.0
Sponsors & Partners
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
Intervention Start Date
2020-04-10
Intervention End Date
2020-09-01

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Amount of raise in salary and benefits from the previous position, whether the individual is employed, and whether the individual attempted and negotiated salary raise and other benefits, willingness to negotiate, beliefs in social acceptance of negotiation, favorable opinions in the workplace, negotiation skills that can be tested based on the training material
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Change in the knowledge of market wage; whether they stayed in the same industry; differential effects by gender, expected market wage, marriage status, industry gender composition, and gender pairings in negotiation
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
Treated individuals get either of two treatments: full negotiation training or information treatment on expected market wages. The information treatment is also included in the full training. The other individuals are controls. The treatment follows right after collecting baseline information in the same survey. We will implement the endline survey 2-3 months after the initial intervention to collect outcome variables.
Experimental Design Details
Not available
Randomization Method
Randomization done through Qualtrics survey.
Randomization Unit
Individual
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
N/A
Sample size: planned number of observations
We plan on distributing surveys so that we have 7,000 respondents for the baseline survey (men and women equally selected). With attrition we expect to have around 4,200 individuals at the final endline surveys.
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
In the endline survey we expect to have 700 men and 700 women in each arm (4,200 total)
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
The University of Chicago
IRB Approval Date
2020-04-06
IRB Approval Number
IRB20-0289
Analysis Plan