Gender wage gap in Brazil: wage-commute trade-off with heterogeneity by sexual orientation

Advisor: Gustavo Gonzaga

This monograph explores gender differences in wage-commute trade-off. Using household-level data from the 2010 Brazilian Census, we extend the literature on the impact of commute on the gender wage gap to a middle-income country with a large informal sector. Commute relates to job-flexibility, which is more demanded by women as a result of their within-household specialization in house and childcare relative to men. We explore sexual orientation as mechanism for within-household specialization and subsequent willingness to commute. We find women in different sex couples are less likely than average to commute more than 30 minutes, whereas the opposite is true for women in same sex couples. We also expand the literature by quantifying commute compensation differentials: in our preferred specification, women who commute more than 30 minutes earn on average 3 p.p. more than men who commute more than 30 minutes. Heterogeneity analysis show the commute compensation differential is U-shaped on income level and larger for single mothers than for married ones. In sum, this monograph expands knowledge on the commute aspect of job-flexibility and, as consequence, on the remaining gender wage gap.