Sofka, W 
ORCID: 0000-0003-1598-6127, Grimpe, C and Kaiser, U
(2025)
Gender wage discrimination and the attractiveness of foreign MNC subsidiaries as employers for women
Journal of International Business Studies, 57 (2).
pp. 173-196.
ISSN 0047-2506, 1478-6990
Abstract
Gender wage discrimination is a grand challenge that constrains economic growth worldwide and denies women fair opportunities. Yet, we know surprisingly little about how women’s own experiences of wage discrimination steer their career decisions. We adopt the perspective of job-seeking women and argue that prior exposure to wage discrimination reshapes their employer preferences. Specifically, it can flip the liability of foreignness typically faced by foreign MNCs into a perceived employer advantage because foreign MNCs can deviate from the host country’s gender-biased norms. We study this mechanism for 165,624 female professionals and managers who changed jobs in Denmark between 2002 and 2015, using a pay transparency law from 2006 for identifying the underlying mechanism. We find that women who have suffered larger wage discrimination in domestic employment are more likely to start working for foreign MNC subsidiaries. This effect is weaker in labor markets in which high-performing domestic employers can offer other benefits, such as reputation or job security. The effect is stronger when foreign MNC subsidiaries signal gender fairness through a higher share of women in management. Overall, our findings show how wage discrimination redirects female career paths, transforming a grand challenge into a strategic advantage for foreign MNCs.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | Gender wage discrimination, Female employee mobility, MNC employees, Employee preferences |
| Divisions: | Faculty of Humanities & Social Sciences Faculty of Humanities & Social Sciences > School of Management Faculty of Humanities & Social Sciences > Faculty of Humanities & Social Sci (All T&R Staff) Faculty of Humanities & Social Sciences > School of Management > Strategy, IB and Entrepreneurship (SIBE) Faculty of Humanities & Social Sciences > School of Management > School of Management (T&R Staff) |
| Depositing User: | Symplectic Admin |
| Date Deposited: | 03 Dec 2025 10:28 |
| Last Modified: | 08 Apr 2026 06:00 |
| DOI: | 10.1057/s41267-025-00811-0 |
| Open Access URL: | https://link.springer.com/article/10.1057/s41267-0... |
| Related Websites: | |
| URI: | https://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/id/eprint/3195806 |
| Disclaimer: | The University of Liverpool is not responsible for content contained on other websites from links within repository metadata. Please contact us if you notice anything that appears incorrect or inappropriate. |
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