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on Gender |
| By: | Britta Hoyer; T.M. van Huizen; L.M. Keijzer; T. Rezaei Khavas; S. Rosenkranz; B. Westbrock |
| Abstract: | We study the willingness to compete in a cognitive task among an entire cohort of fresh man business and economics students. Combining data from a lab-in-thefield experiment with university admissions data, we trace the gender gap in competitiveness at different levels of high school performance. Our results confirm that, on average, men choose to compete more often. The gender gap disappears, however, among students with above average high school performance. Female high school top performers are equally competitive as their male counterparts. In fact, the overall gender gap is entirely driven by the group of female high school underperformers who shied away from competition, even when they performed well in our task. Overall, our findings suggest that high school grades are more than just a signal of cognitive abilities, because they seem to influence the receivers selfperception of his or her performance in a competitive environment involved in later on in life. |
| Keywords: | gender gap, competitiveness, performance feedback, high school grades, lab-in-the-field experiment |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:use:tkiwps:1606&r=gen |
| By: | Barigozzi, Francesca; Cremer, Helmuth; Roeder, Kerstin |
| Abstract: | Our model explains the observed gender-specific patterns of career and child care choices through endogenous social norms. We study how these norms interact with the gender wage gap. We show that via the social norm a couple's child care and career choices impose an externality on other couples, so that the laissez-faire is inefficient. We use our model to study the design and effectiveness of three commonly used policies. We find that child care subsidies and women quotas can be effective tools to mitigate or eliminate the externality. Parental leave, however, may even intensify the externality and decrease welfare. |
| Keywords: | Social norms, child care, women's career choices, child care subsidies, women quotas, parental leave |
| JEL: | D13 H23 J16 J22 |
| Date: | 2017–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:tse:wpaper:31369&r=gen |
| By: | Anica Rose (Paderborn University) |
| Abstract: | While a growing number of empirical studies have analyzed gender differences at various career stages, there is a dearth of studies about formal appraisals of men’s and women’s career potential, i.e., their promotability. In this paper, I will empirically analyze whether female employees’ promotability assessments are systematically inferior to their equally qualified male colleagues. In doing so, I use detailed personnel data of a large global German company that has a formal promotability evaluation process in place. I consider a wide range of contextual variables that have been neglected in the past, such as information on employees’ demographic (i.e., gender, age, tenure) and job-related characteristics (i.e., pay grade, working hours, performance assessments), additional information on the employees’ direct supervisors, and the composition of the department. I find women’s likelihood of receiving an evaluation that qualifies them as promotable to be around 5 percentage points lower than for their male counterparts – the probability of receiving an outstanding assessment being only 20 percent per se. The gap is even more pronounced at around the age of 30, i.e., the average childbearing age in Germany. Furthermore, gender gaps persist at managerial levels, which points to the existence of systematic gender differences in formal promotability evaluation processes. |
| Keywords: | Gender, discrimination, promotion, promotability rating, field study |
| JEL: | J16 J71 M51 |
| Date: | 2017–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pdn:dispap:22&r=gen |
| By: | Bernd Frick (Paderborn University); Anica Rose (Paderborn University); André Kolle (Paderborn University) |
| Abstract: | We contribute to the inconclusive empirical research on the relationship between team gender diversity and team performance by investigating the returns to gender diversity in academia. Using a unique sample with 164 randomly formed student teams, we show that gender heterogeneity adversely affects team performance in a business strategy game. Both all-female and all-male teams outperform gender-heterogeneous teams in terms of financial success. We find evidence for the detrimental gender diversity effect to increase with task complexity. Our findings suggest that all-men and all-women teams do not differ in their strategic management behavior. |
| Keywords: | Gender; Diversity; Teams; Performance; Business strategy game |
| JEL: | J16 C93 |
| Date: | 2017–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pdn:dispap:23&r=gen |
| By: | Rokhaya Dieye; Bernard Fortin |
| Abstract: | This paper explores gender peer effects heterogeneity in adolescent Body Mass Index (BMI). We propose a utility-based non-cooperative social network model with effort technology. We allow the gender composition to influence peer effects. We analyze the possibility of recovering the fundamentals of our structural model from the best-response functions. We provide identification conditions of these functions generalizing those of the homogeneous version of the model. Extending Liu and Lee [2010], we consider 2SLS and GMM strategies to estimate our model using Add Health data. We provide tests of homophily in the formation of network and reject them after controlling for network (school) fixed effects. The joint (endogenous plus contextual) gender homogeneous model is rejected. However, we do not reject that the endogenous effects are the same.This suggests that the source of gender peer effects heterogeneity is the contextual effects. We find that peers’ age, parents’ education, health status, and race are relevant for the latter effects and are gender-dependent. |
| Keywords: | Obesity, Social Networks, Gender, Heterogeneity, Peer Effects, Identification, Add Health. |
| JEL: | L12 C31 Z13 D85 |
| Date: | 2017 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lvl:crrecr:1702&r=gen |
| By: | Robert A. Moffitt (Department of Economics, Johns Hopkins University); David C. Ribar (Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, The University of Melbourne; ARC Centre of Excellence for Children and Families over the Life Course; and Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA)) |
| Abstract: | A long literature in economics concerns itself with differential allocations of resources to different children within the family unit. In a study of approximately 1,500 very disadvantaged families with children in Boston, Chicago, and San Antonio from 1999 to 2005, significant differences in levels of food allocation, as measured by an indicator of food “insecurity,†are found across children of different ages and genders. Using answers to unique survey questions for a specific child in the family, food insecurity levels are found to be much higher among older boys and girls than among younger ones, and to be sometimes higher among older boys than among older girls. Differential allocations are strongly correlated with the dietary and nutritional needs of the child. However, the differences in allocation appear only in the poorest families with the lowest levels of money income and family resources in general, and most differences disappear in significance or are greatly reduced in magnitude when resources rise to only modest levels. Differences in food insecurity across different types of children therefore appear to be a problem primarily only among the worst-off families. |
| Keywords: | Food insecurity, children, gender, intrafamily allocation, Three-City Study |
| JEL: | D13 I1 I3 J1 |
| Date: | 2017–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iae:iaewps:wp2017n04&r=gen |
| By: | Harounan Kazianga; Leigh Linden; Cara Orfield; Matt Sloan; Ali Protik |
| Abstract: | We evaluate the long term effect of a "girl-friendly" primary school program in Burkina Faso, using a regression discontinuity design. The intervention consisted in upgrading existing three-classroom schools to six-classroom schools in order to accommodate more grades. After 6 years, the program increased enrollment by 15.4 percentage points and increased test scores by 0.29 standard deviations. Students in treatment schools progress farther through the grades, compared to students in non-selected schools. These upgraded schools are effective at getting children into school, at getting children start school on time and at keeping children in school longer. Overall, we find that the schools are able to sustain large impacts observed about 3 years earlier, with enrollment declining slightly from 18.5 to 14.9 for the cohorts of children who were exposed to both the first and second phases of the intervention. |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:okl:wpaper:1609&r=gen |
| By: | Campaniello, Nadia; Gavrilova, Evelina |
| Abstract: | Research on the gender variation in the crime market, a peculiar labor market for illegal activities, is limited, although the issue is relevant per se and for its policy implications. We document a gender gap in criminal activities, based on property and white collar crimes, using data from the U.S. National Incident Based Reporting System. We show that there is a gender participation gap where around 30 percent of the crimes are committed by females. In order to explain, at least in part, the gender participation gap we investigate whether there are differences in incentives to be involved in criminal activities and in responsiveness to these incentives across gender. In particular we focus on criminal earnings and probability of arrest. We show that on average females earn 18 percent less than males while they face the same likelihood of arrest. We find that females are more responsive to changes in the expected probability of arrest, while males respond more to changes in the expected illegal earnings. The fact that females behave differently than males has implications for the heterogeneity in response to crime control policies. In addition, using a Blinder-Oaxaca type decomposition technique, we find that differences in incentives explain about 12 percent of the gender crime gap, while differences in responsiveness explain about 55 percent of the gap. |
| Date: | 2016–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:esx:essedp:18833&r=gen |
| By: | Leonardo Bursztyn; Thomas Fujiwara; Amanda Pallais |
| Abstract: | Do single women avoid career-enhancing actions because these actions could signal personality traits, like ambition, that are undesirable in the marriage market? We answer this question through two field experiments in an elite U.S. MBA program. Newly-admitted MBA students filled out a questionnaire on job preferences and personality traits to be used by the career center in internship placement; randomly-selected students thought their answers would be shared with classmates. When they believed their classmates would not see their responses, single and non-single women answered similarly. However, single women reported desired yearly compensation $18,000 lower and being willing to travel seven fewer days per month and work four fewer hours per week when they expected their classmates would see their answers. They also reported less professional ambition and tendency for leadership. Neither men nor non-single women changed their answers in response to peer observability. A supplementary experiment asked students to make choices over hypothetical jobs before discussing their choices in their career class small groups; we randomly varied the groups' gender composition. Single women were much less likely to select career-focused jobs when their answers would be shared with male peers, especially single ones. Two results from observational data support our experimental results. First, in a new survey, almost three-quarters of single female students reported avoiding activities they thought would help their career because they did not want to appear ambitious. They eschewed these activities at higher rates than did men and non-single women. Second, while unmarried women perform similarly to married women in class when their performance is kept private from classmates (on exams and problem sets), they have significantly lower participation grades. |
| JEL: | C93 J12 J16 Z10 |
| Date: | 2017–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:23043&r=gen |
| By: | René Böheim; Christoph Freudenthaler (Department of Economic, Johannes Kepler University Linz, Austria); Mario Lackner |
| Abstract: | We analyze gender differences in risk-taking in high-pressure situations. Using novel data from professional athletes (NBA and WNBA), we find that male teams increase their risktaking towards the end of matches when a successful risky strategy could secure winning the match. Female teams, in contrast, reduce their risk-taking in these situations. The less time left in a match, the larger is the gap. When the costs of an unsuccessful risky strategy are very large (losing the tournament), we find no increase in risk-taking for male teams. |
| Keywords: | Risk-taking, gender differences, tournament incentives |
| JEL: | D81 J16 L83 |
| Date: | 2016–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:jku:econwp:2016_08&r=gen |
| By: | Claudia Olivetti; Barbara Petrongolo |
| Abstract: | We draw lessons from existing work and our own analysis on the effects of parental leave and other interventions aimed at aiding families. The outcomes of interest are female employment, gender gaps in earnings and fertility. We begin with a discussion of the historical introduction of family policies ever since the end of the nineteenth century and then turn to the details regarding family policies currently in effect across high-income nations. We sketch a framework concerning the effects of family policy to motivate our country- and micro-level evidence on the impact of family policies on gender outcomes. Most estimates of the impact of parental leave entitlement on female labor market outcomes range from negligible to weakly positive. The verdict is far more positive for the beneficial impact of spending on early education and childcare. |
| Keywords: | parental leave, childcare, family policies, gender gaps |
| JEL: | J13 J16 J18 |
| Date: | 2017–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cep:cepdps:dp1464&r=gen |
| By: | Borooah, Vani |
| Abstract: | This paper uses data from India’s National Sample Survey (NSS), relating to respondents’ health outcomes between January and June 2014, to quantify a particular form of gender inequality: inequality in self-rated health (SRH) outcomes between men and women aged 60 years or over. In so doing, it makes five contributions to the existing literature. The first is in terms of analytical technique: this study contains a more detailed and nuanced exposition of the regression results than in previous studies. Second, it controls for environmental factors - like poor drainage, lack of toilets, or ventilation in the kitchen - which might adversely impact on health and, in particular, affect the health of women more than that of men. Third, it takes account of interaction effects by which the effect of a variable on an elderly person’s SRH differed according to whether the person was male or female. Lastly, it examines whether SRH is correlated with objective health outcomes. In particular, this study answers two central questions: Did men and women, considered collectively, have significantly different likelihoods of ‘poor’ SRH between the different regions/income classes/social groups/education levels? Did men and women, considered separately, have significantly different likelihoods of a ‘poor’ SRH within a region/income class/social group/education level? |
| Keywords: | India, NSS Health Survey, health outcomes, gender, disparity |
| JEL: | I14 I18 |
| Date: | 2016–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:76171&r=gen |
| By: | Jacob, Arun |
| Abstract: | This paper explores the linkages between dowry payments and educational attainment of women. It formulates an unitary household model that captures how these linkages can potentially impact the educational investment decisions within a household. Based on existing literature and the theoretical model, the following three competing hypotheses arise, namely, (i) dowry do not affect educational attainment (ii) dowry favors educational attainment of women (iii) dowry hampers educational attainment of women. Using a national level household survey from India, we test between these three hypotheses. It adopts an instrumental variable estimation strategy to correct for endogeneity of the dowry measure. It finds strong empirical evidence for the hypothesis that expected dowry payments adversely affects female educational attainment. This is mainly driven by the hypergamous marriage custom, by which a bride is normally matched with a groom of higher educational level, which leads to the perverse outcome of dowry increasing with educational level of both bride and groom. We find that future dowry payments have a significant role in lowering educational attainment among women in India. To our knowledge, this is the first attempt at empirically estimating the impact of dowry system on the educational attainment of women. An Engel curve estimation using household expenses reveals significant ender bias in terms of educational expenses. The extension of the research also shows dowry contributes to the ‘missing women’ phenomenon, due to the positive influence of dowry on parents’ preference for male children. |
| Keywords: | Education; Gender bias; Marriage; Dowry |
| JEL: | I21 I24 I25 J12 J13 J16 |
| Date: | 2016–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:76338&r=gen |
| By: | Lorena Alcázar; María Balarin; Karen Espinoza |
| Abstract: | This study aims to identify the effects of Juntos, the conditional cash transfer program in Peru, on women’s empowerment. Although the program does not envisage women’s welfare as an objective per se, women play a key role as they are the main recipients of the cash transfer and are responsible for compliance with the program’s conditions; thus, their empowerment level can be affected by the intervention. The study applies mixed methods complementing quantitative econometrics with qualitative methods to identify the effects of Juntos on six dimensions of empowerment: economic household decision-making, freedom of movement, gender ideology, agency, self-esteem and perceptions of life. Using two data sources for the quantitative approach (ENDES and Young Lives Study), the study finds positive significant effects on women’s empowerment, specifically on economic household decision-making (even when considering large purchases and resources earned by the partner), self-esteem and perceptions of life; the latter of which is found when women have been part of the program for more than three years. These results are strongly reinforced and explained by the findings of a qualitative approach. No significant results were found on agency, freedom of movement or gender ideology, but the qualitative fieldwork results show improvements on agency and freedom of movement mainly because of women’s participation in training sessions and informal socialization, where they are able to exchange ideas that are then incorporated into their daily lives. However, these improvements may be hampered in some cases by local management of the program in which vertical interaction between the government representatives and beneficiaries occur; women appear as the passive subjects who only receive benefits, conditions and instructions from the program. |
| Keywords: | gender, women empowerment, impact evaluation, transfer payments, CCT. |
| JEL: | I38 J16 |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lvl:pmmacr:2016-25&r=gen |