The Scarring Effects of Workplace Sexual Harassment

Abstract

We provide new causal evidence on the labor market consequences of workplace sexual harassment using matched survey and administrative data from Denmark. We employ a generalized difference-in-difference approach to compare individuals who faced exposure to workplace sexual harassment to those who reported no exposure in the past year. Both women and men who were exposed to workplace sexual harassment see persistent earnings losses of around 6 percent and leave their  firm at a higher rate. We note that losses double among those who change employers, and this pattern is by moves to lower-paying firms. A substantial share of workplace sexual harassment is perpetuated by clients|particularly for women|highlighting that workplace sexual harassment by coworkers is not the only type of workplace sexual harassment that should be the target of anti-harassment policies. Our findings reveal the long-term economic scars of workplace sexual harassment and gendered patterns in firm mobility, sorting, and productivity that persist beyond job transitions.