Pay Transparency and Gender Equality

Since 2018, UK firms with at least 250 employees have been mandated to publicly disclose gender equality indicators. Exploiting variations in this mandate across firm size and time, we show that pay transparency closes 19 percent of the gender pay gap by reducing men’s pay growth. By combining different sources of data, we also provide suggestive evidence that the public availability of the equality indicators enhances public scrutiny. In turn, employers more exposed to public scrutiny seem to reduce their gender pay gap the most. (JEL D22, J16, J24, J31, L25)