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on Demographic Economics |
| By: | Nayoung Rim (United States Naval Academy); Kyung Park (Wellesley College) |
| Abstract: | A growing literature reveals that the adverse effect of children on career advancement falls disproportionately on women. This raises the possibility that women respond to career concerns by delaying family formation more than men. Using a panel dataset on lawyers, we find females are less likely to have their first child before the promotion decision. This fertility gap is not explained away by gender-based sorting or gender differences in marriage-timing and spousal occupation. Two channels drive our results: women bear child-rearing costs and gender-specific promotion thresholds. This implies the focus on the gender wage gap understates gender inequality in the labor market. |
| Date: | 2017–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:usn:usnawp:59&r=dem |
| By: | Anna Raute |
| Abstract: | To assess whether earnings-dependent maternity leave positively impacts fertility and narrows the baby gap between high educated (high earning) and low educated (low earning) women, I exploit a major maternity leave benefit reform in Germany that considerably increases the financial incentives for higher educated and higher earning women to have a child. In particular, I use the large differential changes in maternity leave benefits across education and income groups to estimate the effects on fertility up to 5 years post reform. In addition to demonstrating an up to 22% increase in the fertility of tertiary educated versus low educated women, I find a positive, statistically significant effect of increased benefits on fertility, driven mainly by women at the middle and upper end of the education and income distributions. Overall, the results suggest that earnings-dependent maternity leave benefits, which compensate women commensurate with their opportunity cost of childbearing, could successfully reduce the fertility rate disparity related to mothers’ education and earnings. |
| JEL: | J13 J16 J18 |
| Date: | 2017–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:23793&r=dem |
| By: | Blau, Francine D. (Cornell University); Kahn, Lawrence M. (Cornell University); Brummund, Peter (University of Alabama); Cook, Jason (University of Pittsburgh); Larson-Koester, Miriam (Cornell University) |
| Abstract: | In this paper, we use 2008-2013 American Community Survey data to update and further probe Dahl and Moretti's (2008) son preference results, which found evidence that having a female first child increased the probability of single female headship and raised fertility. In light of the substantial increase in immigration, we examine this question separately for immigrants and natives. Among the population in the aggregate, as well as among the native-born separately, consistent with Dahl and Moretti (2008), we find that having a female first child raises the likelihood that the mother is a single parent. However, in sharp contrast to Dahl and Moretti (2008), we find that having a female first child is actually associated with lower fertility. Thus, by the 2008-2013 period, any apparent son preference among natives in their fertility decisions appears to be outweighed by factors such as cost concerns in raising girls. This change may be plausible in light of the reversal of the gender gap in college attendance beginning in the 1980s (Goldin, Katz and Kuziemko 2006), making girls more costly. For immigrants, we also find evidence that having a female first child contributes to female headship, with an effect that has the same magnitude as that for natives although is not statistically significant. However, in contrast to natives, we do find a positive fertility effect, suggesting son preference in fertility among this group. This interpretation is further supported by evidence that, for both first and second generation immigrants (second generation immigrants were examined using the Current Population Surveys) having a girl has a more positive effect on fertility for those whose source countries have lower values of the World Economic Forum's Gender Equity Index, or lower female labor force participation rates and higher sex (boy-to-girl) ratios among births. We also examine sex selection and find no evidence that sex selection has spread beyond the race groups identified in previous work (e.g., Almond and Edlund 2008). |
| Keywords: | gender, son preference, family structure, fertility, sex selection, immigrants |
| JEL: | J1 J11 J12 J13 J15 J16 |
| Date: | 2017–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp11003&r=dem |
| By: | Basile, Roberto; Girardi, Alessandro; Mantuano, Marianna; Russo, Giuseppe |
| Abstract: | We analyze the effect of interregional migration on regional unemployment in Italy. With the help of a simple two-region model adapted to the main features of the Italian NorthSouth dualism, we illustrate the effects of labor mobility with and without human capital externalities. Using longitudinal data over the years 2002-2011 for 103 NUTS-3 Italian regions, we document that net outflows of human capital from the South to the North have increased the unemployment rate in the South, while it did not affect the unemployment rate in the North. Our analysis contributes to the literature on interregional human capital mobility suggesting that reducing human capital flight from Southern regions should be a priority. |
| Keywords: | Unemployment,Migration,Human Capital,Exernalities,Italian Regions |
| JEL: | C23 R23 J61 |
| Date: | 2017 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:esprep:168560&r=dem |
| By: | Jerg Gutmann; Matthias Neuenkirch; Florian Neumeier |
| Abstract: | In this paper, we empirically analyze the effect of UN and US economic sanctions on life expectancy and its gender gap in target countries. Our sample covers 98 less developed and newly industrialized countries over the period 1977–2012. We employ a matching approach to account for the endogeneity of sanctions. Our results indicate that an average episode of UN sanctions reduces life expectancy by about 1.2–1.4 years. The corresponding decrease of 0.4–0.5 years under an average episode of US sanctions is significantly smaller. These average effects conceal that the damage to life expectancy is accumulating over time; with every additional year under UN (US) sanctions the size of the adverse effect on life expectancy increases by 0.3 (0.2) years. Finally, we find evidence that women are affected more severely by the imposition of sanctions. The fact that sanctions are not “gender-blind” can be interpreted as evidence that sanctions disproportionately affect (the life expectancy of) the more vulnerable members of society. |
| Keywords: | Gender Gap, Human Development, Life Expectancy, Sanctions, United Nations, United States |
| JEL: | F51 F52 F53 I15 |
| Date: | 2017 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:trr:wpaper:201706&r=dem |
| By: | Francisco Campos; Markus Goldstein; Laura McGorman; Ana Maria Munoz Boudet; Obert Pimhidzai |
| Abstract: | Occupational segregation significantly contributes to the earnings gender gap worldwide. We look at differences in outcomes for male and female enterprises and their sectors in Sub-Saharan Africa, a region of high female participation in entrepreneurship. Data on Uganda show that women breaking into male-dominated sectors make as much as men, and three times more than women staying in female-dominated sectors. Factors including entrepreneurial skill/abilities and credit/human capital constraints do not explain women’s sectoral choices. However, information about profitability, male role models’ influence, and exposure to the sector from family and friends are critical in helping women circumvent or overcome norms undergirding occupational segregation. |
| Date: | 2017 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unu:wpaper:wp2017-166&r=dem |
| By: | Mahmud Minhaj; Otsuka Keijiro; Sawada Yasuyuki; Tanaka Mari; Tanaka Tomomi |
| Abstract: | We analyze the factors and dynamics that contributed to the empowerment of women in Bangladesh. We first investigate the role of non-farm sector growth in facilitating female labor force participation and educational attainment, and then we explore how women’s decision-making roles in a household have improved over the same time period. Our results indicate that the proportion of village non-farm labor force participation is positively associated with female school enrollment as well as other indicators of women empowerment. Moreover, microcredit participation is found to be associated with larger roles for females in making household decisions particularly on non-farm activities. |
| Keywords: | non-farm labor force participation, Bangladesh, female schooling, marriage, fertility |
| Date: | 2017–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:jic:wpaper:154&r=dem |