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on Demographic Economics |
| By: | Frimmel, Wolfgang (University of Linz); Halla, Martin (University of Innsbruck); Winter-Ebmer, Rudolf (University of Linz) |
| Abstract: | Numerous papers report a negative association between parental divorce and child outcomes. To provide evidence whether this correlation is driven by a causal effect, we exploit idiosyncratic variation in the extent of sexual integration in fathers' workplaces: Fathers who encounter more women in their relevant age-occupation-group on-the-job are more likely to divorce. This results holds also conditioning on the overall share of female co-workers in a firm. We find that parental divorce has persistent, and mostly negative, effects on children that differ significantly between boys and girls. Treated boys have lower levels of educational attainment, worse labor market outcomes, and are more likely to die early. Treated girls have also lower levels of educational attainment, but they are also more likely to become mother at an early age (especially during teenage years). Treated girls experience almost no negative employment effects. The latter effect could be a direct consequence from the teenage motherhood, which may initiate an early entry to the labor market. |
| Keywords: | divorce, children, human capital, fertility, sexual integrated workplaces |
| JEL: | J12 D13 J13 J24 |
| Date: | 2016–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp9928&r=dem |
| By: | Avila-Santamaria, Jorge; Useche, Pilar |
| Abstract: | This study examines the intra-household bargaining its impact on the productivity of coffee and other crops functions and on the gender productivity gap, using household-level data from 615 farmers in Colombia and Ecuador. The OLS estimates and the Oaxaca-Blinder (O-B) decomposition method corroborate the hypothesis that given a gain bargaining power through the distribution factor “female participation in the intra-household decision-making” would exacerbate household productivity and the gender gap as long this bargaining is not balanced and wives do not obtain fair benefits from agricultural activities. The results also confirm that differences in observed factors between female and male-headed households are the main reason for the gender gap. |
| Keywords: | Gender Productivity Gap, Bargaining Power, Coffee Production, Collective Model., Consumer/Household Economics, Productivity Analysis, D13, J16, Q12, |
| Date: | 2016–05–25 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea16:236156&r=dem |
| By: | Gulati, Kajal; Ward, Patrick; Lybbert, Travis; Spielman, David |
| Abstract: | Measuring intrahousehold preferences for the production activities of the household is challenging as the decisions are made jointly and it is often not possible to switch spheres of influence within a household. An example of a situation where divergent preferences may exist amongst household members even though household constraints masks the household decision is that of rice transplanting in India. In many parts of India, manual rice transplanting in puddled conditions tends to be a task primarily reserved for women, and is highly labor-intensive and arduous. Quite recently, mechanical rice transplanters (MRT), which are a labor-saving production technology, are being promoted in rice-producing areas in the country. We elicit intrahousehold heterogeneity in preferences for mechanical rice transplanting by combining hypothetical and experimental elicitation mechanisms. After informing randomly selected agricultural households about mechanical rice transplanting, we elicited attribute-based non-monetary preferences and monetary hypothetical willingness to pay measures for mechanical and traditional transplanting for women and men in the same household from a sample of 965 households in Bihar, India. Soon after, we conducted village-level, incentive-compatible auctions for providing actual mechanical rice transplanting services, which allowed us to elicit experimental measures of household heads’ willingness to pay. Our study finds evidence of deviations from hypothetical to experimental valuations. However, most individuals did not change their pure preferences for the technology and instead refined their willingness to pay. Knowing the technology service provider during the auctions reduced the difference between hypothetical and individual valuations. Bargaining power of female household members did not play any role in shifting the willingness to pay measures. Women in households where only family labor is used for transplanting value MRTs higher than men by Rs. 162.69, which is driven by their preferences instead of a difference in their individual characteristics. |
| Keywords: | Demand and Price Analysis, International Development, Production Economics, |
| Date: | 2016–05–25 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ags:aaea16:236280&r=dem |
| By: | Benyishay,Ariel; Jones,Maria Ruth; Kondylis,Florence; Mobarak,Ahmed Mushfiq |
| Abstract: | To explain persistent gender gaps in market outcomes, a lab experimental literature explores whether women and men have innate differences in ability (or attitudes or preferences), and a separate field-based literature studies discrimination against women in market settings. This paper posits that even if women have comparable innate ability, their relative performance may suffer in the market if the task requires them to interact with others in society, and they are subject to discrimination in those interactions. The paper tests these ideas using a large-scale field experiment in 142 Malawian villages where men or women were randomly assigned the task of learning about a new agricultural technology, and then communicating it to others to convince them to adopt it. Although female communicators learn and retain the new information just as well, and those taught by women experience higher farm yields, the women are not as successful at teaching or convincing others to adopt the new technology. Micro-data on individual interactions from 4,000 farmers in these villages suggest that other farmers perceive female communicators to be less able, and are less receptive to the women's messages. Relatively small incentives for rewards undo the disparity in performance by encouraging added interactions, improving farmers'accuracy about female communicators'relative skill. |
| Keywords: | Agricultural Knowledge and Information Systems,Gender and Health,Rural Development Knowledge&Information Systems,Gender and Law,Housing&Human Habitats |
| Date: | 2016–05–31 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:7689&r=dem |
| By: | Piazzalunga, Daniela (University of Turin); Tommaso, Maria Laura di (University of Turin) |
| Abstract: | The paper examines the gender wage gap in Italy during the 2008-2012 economic crisis, using cross-sectional EU-SILC data. The gender wage gap increased from 4% in 2008 to 8% in 2012, when for most European countries the gap decreased. After 2010 the growth of the Italian gender wage gap (and its unexplained component) was particularly high in the upper part of the wage distribution. In 2010-11 a wage freeze in the public sector was introduced as an austerity measure: the average public sector premium dropped from 15% to 11%. Using counterfactual analyses, we show that the wage freeze has been one of the major causes of the growth of the gap, disproportionately affecting women, who are more likely to be employed in the public sector. This 'policy effect' accounts for more than 100% of the increase between 2009 and 2011, while other changes, if anything, would have reduced the gap. |
| Keywords: | gender wage gap, Great Recession, public sector premium, decomposition, counterfactual analysis |
| JEL: | J31 J71 J16 J45 |
| Date: | 2016–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp9931&r=dem |
| By: | Kimbrough, Gray (University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Department of Economics) |
| Abstract: | A wealth of research has shown that the commutes of American women are shorter, both in time and distance, than those of American men. This study takes advantage of a large, nationally representative dataset, the American Time Use Survey (ATUS), to examine this relationship. A basic labor supply model is presented, with testable predictions about relationships between commuting time and worker characteristics that could explain the gender gap. Additionally, the detailed commuting characteristics derived from the ATUS make possible an examination of gender differences in the character of commutes, including the number, length, and type of stops along the way. Results show that women tend to make more stops between home and work. Even controlling for marital status and the presence of children, women are more likely to be accompanied by children for their commute. Moreover, the stops made by women along this journey tend to be longer than those for men. These differences in commute character necessitate the use of a methodology that accounts for stop duration in the calculation of commuting time. Blinder-Oaxaca decompositions are performed to decompose the gender commuting gap by estimating a model in which these characteristics are fully interacted with gender. Results support two previously proposed explanations for the gender commuting gap, based on gender differences in wages and types of jobs held. The evidence does not support the explanation that women's greater household responsibility contributes to the gender commuting gap. |
| Keywords: | commuting; gender; household travel behavior |
| JEL: | J16 J22 R40 |
| Date: | 2016–05–31 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ris:uncgec:2016_004&r=dem |
| By: | Gihleb, Rania (University of Pittsburgh); Lifshitz, Osnat (Academic College of Tel-Aviv Yaffo) |
| Abstract: | In 30% of young American couples the wife is more educated than the husband. Those women are characterized by a substantially higher employment (all else equal), which in turn amplifies income inequality across couples. Using NLSY79, we formulate and structurally estimate a dynamic life-cycle model of endogenous marriage and labor supply decisions in a collective framework. We establish that the education gap at the time of marriage, produces dynamic effects due to human capital accumulation and implied wage growth. Inequality between couples is largely driven by the persistence in labor supply choices and only slightly affected by assortative matching. |
| Keywords: | educational assortative mating, female labor supply, human capital, inequality |
| JEL: | J22 J12 J24 J31 |
| Date: | 2016–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp9958&r=dem |
| By: | Umut Özek; David N. Figlio |
| Abstract: | We make use of a new data source – matched birth records and longitudinal student records in Florida – to study the degree to which student outcomes differ across successive immigrant generations. Specifically, we investigate whether first, second, and third generation Asian and Hispanic immigrants in Florida perform differently on reading and mathematics tests, and whether they are differentially likely to get into serious trouble in school, to be truant from school, to graduate from high school, or to be ready for college upon high school graduation. We find evidence suggesting that early-arriving first generation immigrants perform better than do second generation immigrants, and second generation immigrants perform better than third generation immigrants. Among first generation immigrants, the earlier the arrival, the better the students tend to perform. These patterns of findings hold for both Asian and Hispanic students, and suggest a general pattern of successively reduced achievement – beyond a transitional period for recent immigrants – in the generations following the generation that immigrated to the United States. |
| JEL: | I20 I24 J15 |
| Date: | 2016–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:22262&r=dem |