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on Gender |
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Issue of 2023‒10‒09
seven papers chosen by Jan Sauermann, Institutet för Arbetsmarknads- och Utbildningspolitisk Utvärdering |
| By: | Kimberly Scharf (University of Nottingham); Oleksandr Talavera (University of Birmingham); Linh Vi (Aston University) |
| Abstract: | We employ a sample of nearly 40, 000 gender-targeted online job vacancies in Vietnam from February 2019 to July 2020 to investigate gender differences in returns to physical attractiveness. In particular, we compare the monthly offered wage in matched vacancies with and without beauty preferences of the same characteristics among job ads directed at men and women separately. We find evidence that better-looking women enjoy a wage premium of 3.7 percentage points, whereas better-looking men do not. Further analysis shows that the gender differences in returns to beauty are mainly driven by gender role attitudes and the perceived lack of fit rather than productivity-enhancing effect or employers' negligence in job postings. |
| Keywords: | FinTech; physical attractiveness, online vacancies, gender, beauty premium |
| JEL: | J16 J23 J24 J71 |
| Date: | 2023–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bir:birmec:23-08&r=gen |
| By: | Marcello Perez-Alvarez; Catherine Porter; Anvita Ramachandran |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the relationship between human capital and the gender gap in earnings in four developing countries. We use high-quality panel data spanning 12 years from Ethiopia, India, Peru, and Vietnam, to construct latent stocks of cognitive and non-cognitive skills measured during adolescence. We investigate the relationship between these skills and subsequent earnings acquired in early adulthood, thereby avoiding common challenges of measurement error and simultaneity issues. Our results suggest that women earn significantly less than men in all four countries, even after accounting for differences in carefully constructed skill endowments. Interestingly, the gender gap in earnings decreases at higher cognitive skill levels in two out of the four countries. We find that these country-level variations are driven by differences in employment status as opposed to differences in earnings among the employed, and may reflect differences in unpaid care work. We further explore how the gender earnings gap varies in the context of the COVID-19 crisis. While earnings decreased for both men and women during this period, the pre-pandemic relationships between human capital and gender gaps persisted and were strengthened. By comparing the same youth cohort in different countries and periods, we elucidate the contexts under which human capital can become a force of gender convergence in the labour markets of developing countries. |
| Date: | 2023 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:csa:wpaper:2023-04&r=gen |
| By: | Francesca Gioia (Università degli Studi di Milano); Giovanni Immordino (Università di Napoli Federico II and CSEF) |
| Abstract: | In this paper, we document that implicit associations, measured by the gender-science implicit association test, explain employment decisions, both in terms of access to the labour market and in terms of career advancement. In both cases, when choosing between a female and a male worker with the same ex-ante ability, the higher the male-science implicit association of the employer, the higher her/his likelihood of hiring/promoting a male intentionally and the lower her/his likelihood of leaving the decision to chance. Increasing the incentives to employers does not vary the effect of implicit gender-science association which is also not heterogeneous by gender, age or income earned. |
| Keywords: | Gender, Labor discrimination, Implicit Association. |
| JEL: | J16 J24 |
| Date: | 2023–09–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sef:csefwp:681&r=gen |
| By: | Michela Cella; Elena Manzoni; Francesco Scervini |
| Abstract: | In this paper we study, theoretically and empirically, how the belief that the gender of politicians affects their competence on a range of issues may influence electoral outcomes depending on the salience of these issues. We propose a model of issue-specific gender bias in elections which can describe both the presence of a real comparative advantage (‘kernel-of-truth’ case, or stereotype) and the case of pure prejudice. We show that the bias influences electoral results but it can be partially reversed by successful information transmission during the electoral campaign. We then empirically investigate the relation between issue salience and women’s performance, using US data on House and Senate elections. Estimates of issue salience are obtained using Google Trends data. Exploiting the longitudinal dimension of the dataset at district level and an IV strategy to rule out possible endogeneity, we show a positive correlation between the salience of feminine issues and women’s electoral outcomes. The average effect is sizable with respect to the share of votes for women candidates, even if not large enough, on average, to increase the probability that women candidates win elections. |
| Keywords: | gender bias, elections, female politicians. |
| JEL: | D72 J16 |
| Date: | 2023–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mib:wpaper:527&r=gen |
| By: | Alexander Ahammer; Ulrich Glogowsky; Martin Halla; Timo Hener |
| Abstract: | Using Austrian and Danish administrative data, we examine the impacts of parenthood on mental health. Parenthood imposes a greater mental health burden on mothers than on fathers. It creates a long-run gender gap in antidepressant prescriptions of about 93.2% (Austria) and 64.8% (Denmark). These parenthood penalties in mental health are unlikely to reflect differential help-seeking behavior across the sexes or postpartum depression. Instead, they are related to mothers’ higher investments in childcare: Mothers who take extended maternity leave in quasi-experimental settings are more likely to face mental health problems. |
| Keywords: | Gender equality, fertility, parenthood, motherhood, mental health, parental leave |
| JEL: | D63 J13 I10 J16 J22 |
| Date: | 2023–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:jku:econwp:2023-12&r=gen |
| By: | Yutaro Izumi; Hitoshi Shigeoka; Masayuki Yagasaki |
| Abstract: | While female CEOs are under-represented, the barriers they face in the business environment remain poorly understood. This study investigates the influence of gender bias in forming CEOs’ business networks. Using transaction data of 1 million Japanese firms, we find that CEOs of the same gender significantly trade more than those of the opposite gender, mostly driven by small- and medium-sized firms in which CEOs presumably have a strong involvement in transactions. As most CEOs are male, such same-gender bias reduces the trading opportunities for females relative to male CEOs. Regarding mechanisms, our survey reveals both the existence of barriers that impede male CEOs from becoming acquainted with female CEOs and the tendency for male CEOs to prefer interacting with male CEOs over female CEOs. |
| JEL: | D22 J16 |
| Date: | 2023–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:31616&r=gen |
| By: | Thomas Breda (PSE - Paris School of Economics - UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - ENS-PSL - École normale supérieure - Paris - PSL - Université Paris sciences et lettres - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - ENPC - École des Ponts ParisTech - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement, PJSE - Paris Jourdan Sciences Economiques - UP1 - Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - ENS-PSL - École normale supérieure - Paris - PSL - Université Paris sciences et lettres - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - ENPC - École des Ponts ParisTech - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement); Elyès Jouini (Université Paris Dauphine-PSL - PSL - Université Paris sciences et lettres, CEREMADE - CEntre de REcherches en MAthématiques de la DEcision - Université Paris Dauphine-PSL - PSL - Université Paris sciences et lettres - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique); Clotilde Napp (Université Paris Dauphine-PSL - PSL - Université Paris sciences et lettres, DRM - Dauphine Recherches en Management - Université Paris Dauphine-PSL - PSL - Université Paris sciences et lettres - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique) |
| Abstract: | Even though females currently outnumber males in higher education, they remain largely underrepresented in math-related fields of study, with no sign of improvement during the past decades. To better understand which students drive this underrepresentation, we use PISA 2012 data on 251, 120 15-year-old students in 61 countries to analyse boys' and girls' educational intentions along the ability distribution on math assessment tests. We analyze the percentages of boys and girls intending to pursue math-related studies or careers as a function of math performance. First, we show that for both boys and girls, there is a positive and linear relation between the probability of intending to pursue math and math performance. Second, the positive relation is stronger among boys than among girls. In particular, the gender gap in student intentions to pursue math-related studies or careers is close to zero among the poorest performers in math and increases steadily with math performance. Third, as a consequence, the gender gap in math performance, to the detriment of girls, is larger among students intending to pursue math than in the general student population. |
| Date: | 2023–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hal:pseptp:halshs-04155403&r=gen |