Ellen K. Nyhus

Personality and the gender wage gap

In this study, we investigate whether personality traits contribute towards a better understanding of the reasons for the gender wage gap. We explore whether two of the personality factors put forward by Bowles et al. (2001) as likely to be incentive enhancing in the employer–employee relationship can explain the difference in wages for women and men. These are (1) personal self efficacy (Locus of Control (LoC)) and (2) time preference. We also study the role of the so called Big Five personality traits (extraversion, emotional stability, agreeableness, openness intellect and conscientiousness), which have been associated with earnings in several recent studies. Using a sample of Dutch employees, we found that 11.5% of the observed gender wage gap could be ascribed to differences in the personality trait scores (mainly in agreeableness and intellect), while less than 0.5% could be ascribed to gender differences in the returns to the traits. The addition of personality traits to a traditional human capital model reduces the unexplained part of the gender wage gap from 75.2% to 62.7%. We therefore conclude that these traits represent a valuable addition to the model.

The Relationship Between Parenting and the Economic Orientation and Behavior of Norwegian Adolescents

ABSTRACT Little is known about the economic socialization of children and adolescents and the role of parents in this process. The authors’ purpose was to explore the role of parenting in the intergenerational transfer of economic orientation and economic behavior. More specifically, they studied the link between four parenting dimensions (parental warmth–responsiveness, behavioral control, psychological control, autonomy granting), three parenting styles (authoritative, authoritarian, and neglectful) and adolescents’ conscientiousness, future time perspective, and present hedonistic orientation. The authors also studied the relationships between these dispositions and the adolescents’ spending preferences and ability to control spending. They used data collected from 14–16-year-olds (n = 597) and their parents (n = 469) in Norway. Results showed that adolescents who perceived their parents as psychologically controlling were less future oriented and conscientious, and were more present hedonistic oriented than others, while adolescents who perceived their parents as responsive, autonomy granting, and controlling of behavior were more future orientated and conscientious than others. Adolescents’ scores for conscientiousness and future orientation were negatively associated with preferences for spending and positively with the ability to control spending, while the opposite relationships were found with respect to a present hedonistic orientation. Parental style was also found to be important for the future educational plans of adolescents, and plans for higher education were more frequent among adolescents who characterized their parents as authoritative than among those who perceived their parents as neglectful. Implications of the findings for economic socialization are discussed.