Gender Differences in Negotiation Behavior and the Role of Information

Last registered on February 26, 2021
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Gender Differences in Negotiation Behavior and the Role of Information
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0007257
Initial registration date
February 25, 2021

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
February 26, 2021, 12:54 PM EST

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

Last updated
February 26, 2021, 4:18 PM EST

Last updated is the most recent time when changes to the trial's registration were published.

Locations

Country
Germany
Region

Primary Investigator

Name
Ipek Yükselen
Affiliation
Institute for Employment Research (IAB)
Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

Additional Trial Information

Status
On going
Start date
2020-12-11
End date
2022-12-01
Keywords
Education, Gender, Labor
Additional Keywords
Negotiation
JEL code(s)
Secondary IDs
Abstract
Previous studies show a gender difference in wage negotiation behavior which may explain part of the gender wage gap. However, how to close this negotiation gap and its link to the gender wage gap remains unclear. This project aims to produce causal evidence on the means to encourage negotiation behavior among graduates (particularly female graduates), i.e., which instruments are effective to incentivize women to negotiate more, and whether increasing negotiation reduces the gender wage gap. I will randomly assign German master students into an information treatment, a role model treatment and a control group. I will also cross-randomize all groups with a negotiation training invitation. The information treatment includes information on gender differences in negotiation and wages while the role model treatment contains personalized information on negotiation experiences conveyed by successful role models. The negotiation training treatment includes five negotiation training videos prepared by an expert in this field.

I will implement an online randomized field experiment with master students before graduation and use an online survey to follow them at labor market entry after graduation. In addition to the follow-up survey, linking the collected data with the register employment data from the Institute for Employment Research (IAB) will allow me to observe the realized gender wage gap among the graduates, as well as additional employment and firm characteristics. With the questionnaire implemented in the first wave of the field experiment, I aim to ask detailed questions on negotiation behavior, salary and job search expectations, and personality traits. The follow-up survey in the second wave will reveal which treatment has the strongest impact on the negotiation behavior of women in a first job interview after graduation, and consequently, on decreasing the gender wage gap. Furthermore, the administrative data of the linked dataset will allow me to observe the long-run effects of negotiation on the labor market outcomes of graduates.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Yükselen, Ipek. 2021. "Gender Differences in Negotiation Behavior and the Role of Information." AEA RCT Registry. February 26. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.7257-1.1
Sponsors & Partners
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
This research project will recruit final-year master students from around 400 universities in Germany. The recruited students will be randomly assigned to a control group or one of 5 treatment groups. The information treatment group will be provided with information on the association between gender differences in negotiation and wages, the role-model treatment group will receive personalized information on negotiation experiences conveyed by successful role models and the negotiation training treatment involves negotiation training videos offered to the participants to watch. The information and negotiation training group includes both the information treatment and the negotiation training treatment. The last treatment group, the role-model and negotiation training group will receive the role-model treatment and the negotiation training.
Intervention Start Date
2020-12-11
Intervention End Date
2021-04-17

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Short Term

Realized negotiation behavior, realized negotiation outcomes, entry wages, wage differences as a result of negotiation.

Long Term

Wages
Primary Outcomes (explanation)
• Realized individual negotiation behavior: the negotiation behavior for the first regular job after graduation.

• Realized negotiation outcomes: realized outcomes from negotiation for the first regular job after graduation.

• Realized entry wages: the realized individual wages in the first regular job after graduation.

• Wage differences as a result of negotiation: wage differences as a result of negotiation in the first regular job after graduation.

Negotiation includes wage negotiation, negotiation for other monetary aspects (e.g., bonuses), and negotiation for other (non-monetary) aspects. Realized wages are gross monthly wages reported by the graduates as well as from administrative data (pending on data availability).

In the sub-group analyses, I will investigate whether the effects differ by gender, final academic grades, field of study, outside options, job search duration, negotiation experiences, reservation and expected wages, job satisfaction, occupation, sector, region, the reason for negotiation or non-negotiation and individual characteristics (e.g., age, nationality, socioeconomic status).

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
The survey instrument has been designed to collect data on multiple secondary outcomes, including own future plans of negotiating, expected negotiation outcomes, wage expectations, negotiation-related beliefs, reservation wage and initial wage demand.

Finally, the survey includes questions on the number of job applications and main job-search channels.
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)
• Negotiation plans: plans to negotiate for the first regular job after graduation.

• Expected negotiation outcomes: expected outcomes of negotiation for the first regular job after graduation.

• Wage expectations: self-reported own monthly gross wage expectations in the first regular job after graduation.

• Negotiation-related beliefs: beliefs referring to male and female graduates in general about the likelihood of negotiation, the likelihood of a successful negotiation, the average percentage increase in wages as a result of negotiation and the likelihood of being accepted for a job if a negotiation starts on one's own initiative during the interview among male and female graduates.

• Reservation wage: the reservation wage in the first regular job after graduation.

• Initial wage demand: the initial wage demand at the start of a wage negotiation in the job interview for the first regular job after graduation.


Experimental Design

Experimental Design
1. Sampling Method

A survey link will be sent to approximately 400 German universities with a request to distribute the link to their master student e-mail lists. In addition, the survey will be advertised in student newspapers and on social media in order to achieve a maximum number of participants

2. Experimental Design

The master students will be stratified by their field of study (5 categories), gender, grades (3 categories) and graduation date (2 categories) and randomly assigned to one of the 6 groups (1 control, 5 treatment groups) as soon as participants join the survey. After answering some pre-treatment questions, the students in the treatment groups will receive the information or role model treatments, as described below. The negotiation training will be randomly offered to half of all participants. The negotiation training treatment includes five 5-15 minutes long negotiation training videos prepared by an expert in this field. The negotiation training will be cross-randomized with the three groups:

1. Information Treatment: Master students assigned to the information treatment will receive statistics on the gender negotiation gap and on women’s income losses relative to men due to a lower propensity to negotiate.

2. Role Model Treatment: Several women and one man provide examples of their negotiation experiences and some negotiation advice to the master students.

3. Control group: Students assigned to this group will not receive the information or role model treatment.


Therefore, the students will be randomly assigned to one of the 6 groups:

1. Control
2. Control, negotiation training
3. Information
4. Information, negotiation training
5. Role-Model
6. Role-Model, negotiation training


In addition, the survey participants are asked for their consent to link their survey data with administrative data on their labor market history.
Experimental Design Details
Randomization Method
Stratified Randomization will be done in an online survey portal called “keyingress”.
Randomization Unit
The master students will be stratified by their field of study (5 categories), gender, grades (3 categories) and graduation date (2 categories).
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
Not applicable.
Sample size: planned number of observations
The target sample size is approximately 6,000 final-year master students.
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
1000 observations per treatment arm.
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
Ethic Commission of the University Bamberg
IRB Approval Date
2021-01-08
IRB Approval Number
2020-11/33
Analysis Plan

Post-Trial

Post Trial Information

Study Withdrawal

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Intervention

Is the intervention completed?
No
Data Collection Complete
Data Publication

Data Publication

Is public data available?
No

Program Files

Program Files
Reports, Papers & Other Materials

Relevant Paper(s)

Reports & Other Materials