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  • March 2020
  • Article
  • Journal of Political Economy

Knowing When to Ask: The Cost of Leaning-in

By: Christine L. Exley, Muriel Niederle and Lise Vesterlund
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Abstract

Women's reluctance to negotiate is often used to explain the gender wage gap, popularizing the push for women to “lean-in" and negotiate more. Examining an environment where women achieve positive profits when they choose to negotiate, we find that increased negotiations are not helpful. Women know when to ask: they enter negotiations resulting in positive profits and avoid negotiations resulting in negative profits. While the findings are similar for men, we find no evidence that men are more adept than women at knowing when to ask. Thus, our results caution against a greater push for women to negotiate.

Keywords

Negotiations; Leaning-in; Selection; Negotiation Participants; Negotiation Style; Gender

Citation

Exley, Christine L., Muriel Niederle, and Lise Vesterlund. "Knowing When to Ask: The Cost of Leaning-in." Journal of Political Economy 128, no. 3 (March 2020): 816–854.
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About The Author

Christine L. Exley

Negotiation, Organizations & Markets
→More Publications

More from the Authors

    • 2022
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    Beliefs about Gender Differences in Social Preferences

    By: Christine L Exley, Oliver P. Hauser, Molly Moore and John-Henry Pezzuto
    • January 2022
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    Negotiating for Equal Pay: The U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team (A) and (B)

    By: John Beshears and Christine Exley
    • June 2021
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    The Role of Beliefs in Driving Gender Discrimination

    By: Katherine B. Coffman, Christine L. Exley and Muriel Niederle
More from the Authors
  • Beliefs about Gender Differences in Social Preferences By: Christine L Exley, Oliver P. Hauser, Molly Moore and John-Henry Pezzuto
  • Negotiating for Equal Pay: The U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team (A) and (B) By: John Beshears and Christine Exley
  • The Role of Beliefs in Driving Gender Discrimination By: Katherine B. Coffman, Christine L. Exley and Muriel Niederle
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