In this paper we reconsider the question whether women search longer than men and extend the analysis by testing whether gender differences vary with age. We use a large sample of displaced men and women from German register data covering all industrial sectors and following workers throughout the period 1975 to 2001. The focus of the analysis is on the length of displacement and a proportional hazard model is used. Consistent with previous evidence women experience significantly longer displacement durations than comparable men. These differences remain significant even after controlling for heterogeneity in a rich fashion and measured before displacement. When we allow for differential effects between the young and old men and women, we find the largest significant gender differentials for 26 to 30 years old. This suggests that gender differences in displacement durations cannot be explained by mechanisms related to discrimination (e.g. Black, 1995; Bowlus and Eckstein, 2002) that predict constant differences in age, but rather theories that generate a life cycle pattern. |
