Preliminary and Incomplete: Please do not Quote

We study patterns of firms ’ advertised gender preferences in a sample of job ads posted on an internet board in China, and interpret these patterns using a simple nonsequential employer search model. We find that firms are less likely to express a gender preference in either direction when the expected number of applicants per vacant position is low, when the firm has some foreign ownership, and when the job demands a high level of education or management experience. At the same time, firms ’ advertised preferences move towards men and away from women as firms grow in size, when they are state-owned, and when the job requires a higher level of experience. ___________________________