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on Gender |
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Issue of 2024‒05‒13
five papers chosen by Jan Sauermann, Institutet för Arbetsmarknads- och Utbildningspolitisk Utvärdering |
| By: | Bram Timmermans (Norges Handelshøyskole (NHH)); Joanna Tyrowicz (Group for Research in Applied Economics (GRAPE); University of Warsaw; Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)); Lucas van der Velde (Group for Research in Applied Economics (GRAPE); University of Warsaw) |
| Abstract: | We address the gender wage gap in Europe, focusing on the impact of female representation in executive and non-executive boards. We use a novel dataset to identify gender board diversity across European firms, which covers a comprehensive sample of private firms in addition to publicly listed ones. Our study spans three waves of the Structure of Earnings Survey, covering 26 countries and multiple industries. Despite low prevalence of female representation and the complex nature of gender wage inequality, our findings reveal a robust causal link: increased gender diversity significantly decreases the adjusted gender wage gap. We also demonstrate that to meaningfully impact gender wage gaps, the presence of a single female representative in leadership is insufficient. |
| Keywords: | gender inequality, gender wage gaps, board composition, corporate governance, women representation |
| JEL: | J31 J71 J16 |
| Date: | 2023 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fme:wpaper:89&r=gen |
| By: | Kritikos, Alexander S.; Maliranta, Mika; Nippala, Veera; Nurmi, Satu |
| Abstract: | We examine how the gender of business-owners is related to the wages paid to female relative to male employees working in their firms. Using Finnish register data and employing firm fixed effects, we find that the gender pay gap is - starting from a gender pay gap of 11 to 12 percent - two to three percentage-points lower for hourly wages in female-owned firms than in male-owned firms. Results are robust to how the wage is measured, as well as to various further robustness checks. More importantly, we find substantial differences between industries. While, for instance, in the manufacturing sector, the gender of the owner plays no role for the gender pay gap, in several service sector industries, like ICT or business services, no or a negligible gender pay gap can be found, but only when firms are led by female business owners. Businesses in male ownership maintain a gender pay gap of around 10 percent also in the latter industries. With increasing firm size, the influence of the gender of the owner, however, fades. In large firms, it seems that others - firm managers - determine wages and no differences in the pay gap are observed between male- and female-owned firms. |
| Keywords: | Entrepreneurship, Gender Pay Gap, Discrimination, Linked employer-employee data |
| JEL: | J16 J24 J31 J71 L26 M13 |
| Date: | 2024 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:glodps:1422&r=gen |
| By: | Magdalena Smyk (Group for Research in Applied Economics (GRAPE); Warsaw School of Economics); Siri Terjesen (Florida Atlantic University; Norges Handelshøyskole (NHH)); Joanna Tyrowicz (Group for Research in Applied Economics (GRAPE); University of Warsaw; Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)) |
| Abstract: | Theoretical literature on entrepreneurship hints that labor market inequality may constitute a relevant push factor for self-employment. Drawing on empirical confirmation, this insight is used in many policy recommendations. We propose a new approach to test and quantify the link between labor market inequality and self-employment of women. We provide a novel and rich data set labor market inequality for women, utilizing estimates of gender wage gaps specific for age and education group, comparable for 36 countries over ten years. We exploit rich and diverse international data on patterns of self-employment from the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor. Our results show that greater gender wage inequality is associated with higher prevalence of self-employment for both men and women. Relative to men, women are actually discouraged from self-employment, which is consistent with the notion that discriminative labor markets are typically signs of discriminative societies. We show that actually necessity self-employment is more rare form of self-employment in unequal societies, which is consistent with explanations stressing access to resources, networks and markets as relevant dimensions of gender inequality. |
| Keywords: | female entrepreneurship, gender wage gap, GEM |
| JEL: | J16 L26 D12 |
| Date: | 2023 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fme:wpaper:88&r=gen |
| By: | Hermes, Henning; Krauß, Marina; Lergetporer, Philipp; Peter, Frauke; Wiederhold, Simon |
| Abstract: | We provide experimental evidence that enabling access to universal early child care increases maternal labor supply and promotes gender equality among families with lower socioeconomic status (SES). Our intervention offers information and customized help with child care applications, leading to a boost in child care enrollment among lower-SES families. 18 months after the intervention, we find substantial increases in maternal full-time employment (+160%), maternal earnings (+22%), and household income (+10%). Intriguingly, the positive employment effects are not only driven by extended hours at child care centers, but also by an increase in care hours by fathers. Gender equality also benefits more broadly from better access to child care: The treatment improves a gender equality index that combines information on intra-household division of working hours, care hours, and earnings by 40% of a standard deviation, with significant increases in each dimension. For higher-SES families, we consistently observe negligible, insignificant treatment effects. |
| Keywords: | child care, gender equality, maternal employment, randomized controlled trial |
| JEL: | C93 J13 J18 J22 |
| Date: | 2024 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:iwhdps:289799&r=gen |
| By: | Charles Gottlieb (Aix-Marseille Univ., CNRS, AMSE, Marseille, France) |
| Abstract: | Across countries, women and men allocate time differently between market work, domestic services, and care work. In this paper, we document the gender division of work, drawing on a new harmonized data set that provides us with high-quality time use data for 50 countries spanning the global income distribution. A striking feature of the data is the wide dispersion across countries at similar income levels. We use these data to motivate a macroeconomic model of household time use in which country-level allocations are shaped by wages and a set of “wedges” that resemble productivity, preferences, and disutilities. Taking the model to country-level observations, we find that a wedge related to the disutility of market work for women plays a crucial role in generating the observed dispersion of outcomes, particularly for middle-income countries. Variation in the division of non-market work is principally shaped by a wedge indicating greater disutility for men, which is especially large in some low- and middle-income countries. |
| Keywords: | labor supply, home production, care work, time use, gender inequality, gender norms |
| Date: | 2024–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:aim:wpaimx:2411&r=gen |