Sexual Orientation, Disclosure and Earnings

Erik Plug and Peter Berkhout

Gay/bisexual workers tend to earn less than other men.rnDoes this occur because of discrimination or because of selection?rnIn this paper we address this question and collect new informationrnon workplace disclosure to separate out discrimination effects fromrnselection effects. Using a large sample of recently graduated men inrnthe Netherlands, we find that gay/bisexual workers earn about 3 to 4rnpercent less than other men. Our disclosure estimates, however,rnprovide little evidence that the labor market discriminates againstrngay/bisexual workers. They rather support the selection story, mostrnprominently observed among undisclosed gay/bisexual workers whornconcentrate in lower paid occupations, and earn about 5 to 9 percentrnless than other men.

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