Abstract

How does gender identity shape peer effects in the workplace? We use rich Brazilian administrative data to examine peer effects on wages for an entire local labor market, distinguishing between within-gender and cross-gender peer effects. Both individuals and peers average ability are unobserved, so we estimate them by taking advantage of the panel structure of the data. We also control for workers sorting into peer groups and firms. We find that within-gender peer effects are remarkably larger (about double) than cross-gender peer effects in the workplace for both men and women. In addition, differences between within-gender and cross-gender peer effects are attenuated in contexts with more egalitarian gender identity norms. These patterns are consistent with economic models of behaviour and interactions that incorporate the psychology and sociology of identity.

JEL classification: J16, J24, J31, M12, M54. 

Keywords: Peer effects; Gender; Matched employer-employee data; Identity.