title: The effects of prenatal testosterone on wages: Evidence from Russia.
abstract: Is in utero exposure to testosterone correlated with earnings? The question matters for understanding determinants of wage differences that have attracted so much attention among economists in the past decade. Evidence indicates that markers for early testosterone exposure are correlated with traits like risk-taking and aggressiveness. But it is not at all clear how such findings might map into labor market success. We combine unique data from the Russian Longitudinal Monitoring Survey with measured markers (2D:4D ratios) for testosterone exposure and find that lower digit ratios (higher T) correlate with higher wages for women and for men, when controlling for age, education and occupation. There is also some evidence of a potential non-linear, inverse U-effect of digit ratios on wages but this is sensitive to choice of specification. These findings are consistent with earlier work on prenatal T and success in careers (Coates et al., 2009) but inconsistent with the work of Gielen et al. (2016) who find differing effects for men and women.
authors.affiliation: George Mason University, Fairfax, VA, USA; National Research University Higher School of Economics, Moscow; International Laboratory for Institutional Analysis of Economic Reforms. Electronic address: jnye@gmu.edu.
authors.forename: John V C
authors.initials: JV
authors.lastname: Nye
authors.affiliation: National Research University Higher School of Economics, Moscow; International Laboratory for Institutional Analysis of Economic Reforms. Electronic address: mbryukhanov@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Maksym
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bryukhanov
authors.affiliation: National Research University Higher School of Economics, Moscow; International Laboratory for Institutional Analysis of Economic Reforms. Electronic address: ekochergina@hse.ru.
authors.forename: Ekaterina
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Kochergina
authors.affiliation: National Research University Higher School of Economics, Moscow; International Laboratory for Institutional Analysis of Economic Reforms. Electronic address: eorel@hse.ru.
authors.forename: Ekaterina
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Orel
authors.affiliation: National Research University Higher School of Economics, Moscow; International Laboratory for Institutional Analysis of Economic Reforms. Electronic address: sergiy.polyachenko@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Sergiy
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Polyachenko
authors.affiliation: National Research University Higher School of Economics, Moscow; International Laboratory for Institutional Analysis of Economic Reforms. Electronic address: yudkevich@hse.ru.
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yudkevich
mesh_terms: D004651:Employment / Q000191:economics; D005260:Female; D005385:Fingers / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D011247:Pregnancy; D011297:Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects; D012426:Russia; D012456:Salaries and Fringe Benefits / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D017678:Sex Distribution; D013739:Testosterone / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D013739:Testosterone
keywords: 2D:4D; In utero; Russia; Testosterone; Wages