{"id":79993,"date":"2021-05-27T06:02:00","date_gmt":"2021-05-27T10:02:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/?post_type=bu-article&#038;p=79993"},"modified":"2021-08-26T15:54:56","modified_gmt":"2021-08-26T19:54:56","slug":"closing-the-wage-gap","status":"publish","type":"bu-article","link":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/record\/articles\/2021\/closing-the-wage-gap\/","title":{"rendered":"Closing the Wage Gap"},"content":{"rendered":"\t<div class=\"wp-block-editorial-leadin record-block-editorial-leadin is-style-text-over-image has-media has-box has-media-focus-center-top has-text-position-x-right has-text-position-y-bottom has-primary-theme\">\n\t\t<div class=\"container-lockup\">\n\n\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-block-leadin-media\">\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<img width=\"2504\" height=\"2560\" src=\"\/law\/files\/2021\/05\/Woman-with-money-illustration-by-Robert-Neubecker-scaled.jpg\" class=\"\" alt=\"Woman with money illustration\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2021\/05\/Woman-with-money-illustration-by-Robert-Neubecker-scaled.jpg 2504w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2021\/05\/Woman-with-money-illustration-by-Robert-Neubecker-622x636.jpg 622w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2021\/05\/Woman-with-money-illustration-by-Robert-Neubecker-1001x1024.jpg 1001w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2021\/05\/Woman-with-money-illustration-by-Robert-Neubecker-768x785.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2021\/05\/Woman-with-money-illustration-by-Robert-Neubecker-1502x1536.jpg 1502w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2021\/05\/Woman-with-money-illustration-by-Robert-Neubecker-2003x2048.jpg 2003w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2021\/05\/Woman-with-money-illustration-by-Robert-Neubecker-808x826.jpg 808w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2021\/05\/Woman-with-money-illustration-by-Robert-Neubecker-667x682.jpg 667w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2021\/05\/Woman-with-money-illustration-by-Robert-Neubecker-1009x1032.jpg 1009w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2021\/05\/Woman-with-money-illustration-by-Robert-Neubecker-1292x1321.jpg 1292w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2021\/05\/Woman-with-money-illustration-by-Robert-Neubecker-336x344.jpg 336w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2021\/05\/Woman-with-money-illustration-by-Robert-Neubecker-517x529.jpg 517w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2021\/05\/Woman-with-money-illustration-by-Robert-Neubecker-673x688.jpg 673w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2021\/05\/Woman-with-money-illustration-by-Robert-Neubecker-1035x1058.jpg 1035w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2021\/05\/Woman-with-money-illustration-by-Robert-Neubecker-1334x1364.jpg 1334w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2021\/05\/Woman-with-money-illustration-by-Robert-Neubecker-1616x1652.jpg 1616w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2021\/05\/Woman-with-money-illustration-by-Robert-Neubecker-2019x2064.jpg 2019w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2021\/05\/Woman-with-money-illustration-by-Robert-Neubecker-978x1000.jpg 978w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2504px) 100vw, 2504px\" \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"wp-block-editorial-leadin-caption wp-prepress-component-caption\">Illustration by Robert Neubecker<\/p>\n\t\t\t\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"container-words-outer\">\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"container-words-inner\">\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"wp-prepress-tag\">Gender and Law<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h1 class=\"head\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<strong>Closing the Wage Gap<\/strong>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/h1>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h4 class=\"deck\">James Bessen\u2019s research into salary history bans is driving change for job seekers.<\/h4>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\n\t<\/div>\n\n\t\n<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar record-prepress-layout-metabar\">\n\t<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar-date\">May 27, 2021<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar-credits\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<ul data-credit-type=\"By\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/record\/authors\/jeffrey-leon\/\">K. Jeffery Leon<\/a><\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/ul>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar-share js-bu-prepress-share-tools\">\n\t\t\t<span class=\"icon-twitter\"><span>Twitter<\/span><\/span>\n\t\t\t<span class=\"icon-facebook\"><span>Facebook<\/span><\/span>\n\t\t\t<span class=\"icon-action\"><\/span>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\t\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-editorial-introparagraph record-block-editorial-introparagraph is-style-dropcap-default has-dropcap has-dropcap-color-primary\"><div class=\"wp-block-editorial-introparagraph-content\"><p>Economist and researcher James Bessen says that his work studying salary history bans was something of a \u201clucky accident.\u201d \u201cWe kind of stumbled into it,\u201d he admits.<\/p><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Last summer, Bessen and his team at BU Law\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/faculty-research\/centers-institutes\/tpri\/\">Technology &amp; Policy Research Initiative<\/a> (TPRI) published <a href=\"http:\/\/sites.bu.edu\/tpri\/2020\/06\/18\/perpetuating-inequality-what-salary-history-bans-reveal-about-wages\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">a study on the effects of implementing salary history bans<\/a>. Their research has added fuel to the growing national movement to ban employers from asking job seekers about their salary history, which can reinforce pay discrimination for women, people of color, and marginalized groups. As of December 2020, 14 states and Puerto Rico had implemented salary history bans for all employees.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cAn employer may not be at all discriminatory, but if they\u2019re using salary history to make offers, it\u2019s a structural form of discrimination,\u201d says Bessen. \u201cIt\u2019s going to perpetuate inequality, even if they aren\u2019t biased.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image alignfarright\"><figure class=\"alignright size-medium is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"\/law\/files\/2021\/05\/Jim_Bessen-423x636.jpg\" alt=\"Jim Bessen\" class=\"wp-image-79995\" width=\"317\" height=\"477\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2021\/05\/Jim_Bessen-423x636.jpg 423w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2021\/05\/Jim_Bessen-681x1024.jpg 681w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2021\/05\/Jim_Bessen-768x1154.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2021\/05\/Jim_Bessen-1022x1536.jpg 1022w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2021\/05\/Jim_Bessen-1363x2048.jpg 1363w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2021\/05\/Jim_Bessen-550x826.jpg 550w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2021\/05\/Jim_Bessen-454x682.jpg 454w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2021\/05\/Jim_Bessen-687x1032.jpg 687w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2021\/05\/Jim_Bessen-879x1321.jpg 879w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2021\/05\/Jim_Bessen-229x344.jpg 229w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2021\/05\/Jim_Bessen-352x529.jpg 352w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2021\/05\/Jim_Bessen-458x688.jpg 458w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2021\/05\/Jim_Bessen-704x1058.jpg 704w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2021\/05\/Jim_Bessen-908x1364.jpg 908w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2021\/05\/Jim_Bessen-1099x1652.jpg 1099w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2021\/05\/Jim_Bessen-1373x2064.jpg 1373w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2021\/05\/Jim_Bessen-1758x2642.jpg 1758w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2021\/05\/Jim_Bessen-665x1000.jpg 665w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2021\/05\/Jim_Bessen-scaled.jpg 1703w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 317px) 100vw, 317px\" \/><figcaption>Economist &amp; BU Law Lecturer James Bessen<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Bessen\u2019s interests in technology and the public interest have been consistent throughout his career. After graduating from Harvard, he established <em>Community Focus\/Enfoque Comunal<\/em>, one of Philadelphia\u2019s first bilingual English\/Spanish newspapers. In the early 1980s, he developed a computer program to help lay out advertisements for the newspaper and spun that program out into his own company, BESTinfo. Bessen\u2019s time in the software world spawned his interest in software patent issues and technology\u2019s influences on society, research which brought him to Boston University as a law lecturer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In 2017, Bessen and a group of researchers founded TPRI, an initiative that studies technology\u2019s effects on society and the workforce, how technology impacts income and inequalities, and policies that take technology into account to foster innovation and benefit ordinary people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>While analyzing data on online job listings, Bessen discovered that the percentages of job ads showing salaries tripled from 2017 to 2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe thought they had made a mistake somewhere,\u201d he says of the data, which had been supplied by an analytics company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Diving into the reason why, Bessen discovered the increases corresponded with several states implementing salary history bans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe <a href=\"https:\/\/malegislature.gov\/Bills\/189\/Senate\/S2119\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">first law was passed in Massachusetts<\/a> in 2016 but didn\u2019t go into effect until 2018,\u201d he says. \u201cIt was overwhelmingly pursued by women\u2019s groups, who saw this as a key aspect of gender discrimination and the gender wage gap.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-bu-pullquote record-block-bu-pullquote alignwide is-style-pop has-primary-theme\"><div class=\"wp-block-bu-pullquote-inner\"><blockquote><div class=\"container-lockup\"><div class=\"container-icon-outer\"><div class=\"container-icon-inner\"><\/div><\/div><div class=\"container-text\"><hr\/><div class=\"quote-sizing\">I think we\u2019re sort of just at the beginning of what I hope is going to become a much broader source of change.<\/div><footer class=\"caption\">James Bessen<\/footer><hr\/><\/div><\/div><\/blockquote><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Beginning in August 2019, Bessen\u2019s team investigated the effects of salary history bans for job seekers and on the wage gap. The team discovered that under a salary history ban, wages rose 5 to 6 percent, on average, compared to states without bans. Pay rose 8 percent for women and 13 percent for African Americans. They also found that half of the residual wage gap for job-seeking women disappeared under a salary history ban, implying that the gender wage gap was not due to differences in worker productivity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe wage gap is mainly about other things,\u201d says Bessen. \u201cEither discrimination, or perhaps different abilities to bargain or willingness to settle, but it\u2019s not productivity related. There\u2019s no good economic rationale for it.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Since publication, the study has received positive feedback and a flurry of press. Bessen and his team were invited to speak at the Massachusetts Caucus of Women Legislators on the findings, and employers have been reaching out about how to address wage gap issues. He hopes this research can provide greater transparency from employers and more equity for job seekers. The team plans to address feedback to the study and hopes to collaborate with advocacy groups to broaden their research.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"is-style-end-of-article\">\u201cI think we\u2019re sort of just at the beginning of what I hope is going to become a much broader source of change,\u201d says Bessen.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator is-style-wide\"\/>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-media-text is-stacked-on-mobile\" style=\"grid-template-columns:24% auto\"><figure class=\"wp-block-media-text__media\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/news-stories\/issues\/spring-2021\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"791\" height=\"1024\" src=\"\/law\/files\/2021\/05\/LAW-Record-S21-cover-791x1024.jpg\" alt=\"The Record, spring 2021\" class=\"wp-image-79416\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2021\/05\/LAW-Record-S21-cover-791x1024.jpg 791w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2021\/05\/LAW-Record-S21-cover-492x636.jpg 492w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2021\/05\/LAW-Record-S21-cover-768x994.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2021\/05\/LAW-Record-S21-cover-1187x1536.jpg 1187w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2021\/05\/LAW-Record-S21-cover-638x826.jpg 638w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2021\/05\/LAW-Record-S21-cover-527x682.jpg 527w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2021\/05\/LAW-Record-S21-cover-798x1032.jpg 798w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2021\/05\/LAW-Record-S21-cover-1021x1321.jpg 1021w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2021\/05\/LAW-Record-S21-cover-266x344.jpg 266w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2021\/05\/LAW-Record-S21-cover-409x529.jpg 409w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2021\/05\/LAW-Record-S21-cover-532x688.jpg 532w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2021\/05\/LAW-Record-S21-cover-818x1058.jpg 818w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2021\/05\/LAW-Record-S21-cover-1054x1364.jpg 1054w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2021\/05\/LAW-Record-S21-cover-1277x1652.jpg 1277w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2021\/05\/LAW-Record-S21-cover-773x1000.jpg 773w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2021\/05\/LAW-Record-S21-cover-335x435.jpg 335w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/files\/2021\/05\/LAW-Record-S21-cover.jpg 1487w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 791px) 100vw, 791px\" \/><\/a><\/figure><div class=\"wp-block-media-text__content\">\n<p>FEATURED IN:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2>The Record,<br>Spring 2021<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/news-stories\/issues\/spring-2021\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">See all stories<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator is-style-wide\"\/>\n\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Economist and researcher James Bessen says that his work studying salary history bans was something of a \u201clucky accident.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18313,"featured_media":79994,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"bu_prepress_billboard":"{\"post_id\":79246,\"hed\":\"Corporate America Rethinks its Purpose\",\"dek\":\"Next Article\",\"class\":\"wp-block-editorial-billboard record-block-editorial-billboard has-media\",\"backgroundId\":\"79647\",\"backgroundUrl\":\"\\\/law\\\/files\\\/2021\\\/05\\\/Corporate-Board-Support-Fatinha-Ramos-03-970x456.jpg\",\"backgroundType\":\"image\",\"backgroundOpacity\":\"100\"}","_bu_prepress_primary_term":"Gender and Law","_bu_prepress_primary_term_manual":""},"tags":[1806,1939,1764],"bu-publication":[3742],"record-article-category":[3918,3764,3751,3771],"record-topic":[3935],"bu_edition":[],"media_type":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article\/79993"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/bu-article"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/18313"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=79993"}],"version-history":[{"count":22,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article\/79993\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":80238,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article\/79993\/revisions\/80238"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/79994"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=79993"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=79993"},{"taxonomy":"bu-publication","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-publication?post=79993"},{"taxonomy":"record-article-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/record-article-category?post=79993"},{"taxonomy":"record-topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/record-topic?post=79993"},{"taxonomy":"bu_edition","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu_edition?post=79993"},{"taxonomy":"media_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/law\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media_type?post=79993"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}