Career Interrupted for What Reason? Job Interruptions and Their Wage Effects

This paper examines whether controlling for the type of career interruption has different effects on men\u27s and women\u27s wages. One argument for the persistence of the gender wage gap is that previously researchers have used poor measures of experience to estimate men\u27s and women\u27s wages. This paper extends the career interruption literature by estimating men\u27s and women\u27s wages including controls for both the type and timing of interruptions. Findings show similar wage effects for men\u27s and women\u27s wages while controlling for the type of interruption. These results are consistent with the basic human capital model, but are inconsistent with previous empirical research