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on Gender |
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Issue of 2024‒09‒30
ten papers chosen by Jan Sauermann, Institutet för Arbetsmarknads- och Utbildningspolitisk Utvärdering |
| By: | Bharti Nandwani (Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research); Punarjit Roychowdhury (Shiv Nadar University) |
| Abstract: | The paper examines whether granting property inheritance rights to females improves their participation in politics as election candidates in India. Conservative gender norms in patriarchal societies like India discourage women from actively participating in politics, with socially enforced sanctions for non-compliance. Additionally, being politically active is costly, requiring significant contributions of time and resources. Improvement in property rights is likely to financially empower women, easing both the constraints. Using state-level variation in legal changes to women's property rights and employing a large administrative data on elections in India, we show that better property rights for women lead to an increase in women contesting for elections and likelihood of winning for women candidates. We also document that regional parties contest more female candidates and there is increased entry of new female candidates after the reform. Further, using a large household survey data, we provide evidence that the increased political participation is driven by improved financial autonomy of women after the inheritance reforms. We confirm that pre-existing trends are not confounding our results. |
| Keywords: | Gender, India, Female Political Participation, Property Rights |
| JEL: | J16 D72 K11 O12 |
| Date: | 2024–07 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ind:igiwpp:2024-012 |
| By: | António Afonso; M. Carmen Blanco-Arana |
| Abstract: | The gender pay gap and the gender gap in employment remains persistent in Europe despite the basic assertion of gender equality under EU law. We assess the factors that influence the gender pay gap and gender employment gap across European countries. Therefore, we use an unbalanced panel of 31 European countries over the period 2000-2022, and estimate a system generalized method of moment model (GMM). The main conclusions confirm that tertiary education significantly reduces gender pay gap and part-time and temporary contracts significantly increase this gap. Moreover, part-time reduces significantly gender employment gap. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita does not affect these gaps and the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) saw a narrowing of the gender pay and employment gaps in European countries. The results are robust when using a fixed effects (FE) model. |
| Keywords: | Gender Pay Gap; Gender Employment Gap; Secondary Education; Tertiary Education; Part-time; Temporary Work; GMM; European countries |
| JEL: | J0 J16 C23 |
| Date: | 2024–08 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ise:remwps:wp03382024 |
| By: | Ardila Brenoe, Anne (University of Zürich); Eyibak, Zeynep (University of Zürich); Heursen, Lea (Humboldt- Universität zu Berlin); Ranehill, Eva (Department of Economics, School of Business, Economics and Law, Göteborg University); Weber, Roberto A (University of Zürich) |
| Abstract: | Economic research on gender gaps in preferences and economic outcomes has focused on variation with respect to sex—abinary classification as either a “man” or “woman.” We validate a novel and simple measure of self-reported continuous gender identity (CGI) and explore whether gender identity correlates with variation in economic decisions and outcomes beyond the relationship with binary sex.We use four datasets (N=8, 073) measuring various dimensions of economic preferences and educational and labor market outcomes for which prior research has documented gaps between men and women. Our analysis rejects the null hypothesis that CGI has no relationship with behaviors and preferences beyond the relationship with binary sex, particularly for men, and suggests that incorporating self-reported measures of gender identity may have value for understanding gender gaps and for targeting policy. However, when considering specific domains, the relationships vary in statistical significance and are often small. |
| Keywords: | Gender identity; non-binary gender; economic preferences; economic outcomes |
| JEL: | C91 J16 J20 |
| Date: | 2024–09–05 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:gunwpe:0845 |
| By: | Bruna Campisano; Giuseppe Migali; Steve Bradley |
| Abstract: | We investigate the effects of Covid-19 on spatial variations in gender differences in educational attainment in English secondary schools. Spatial variations in various measures of Covid-19 incidence rates at the Travel-to-Work-Areas are explored. Since all parts of the UK were affected by Covid-19, spatial variations in Covid-19 are regarded as variations in the ’dose’ of the virus - the higher the dose the greater the impact. Employing a Difference-in-Differences (DiD) framework with fixed effects for year, school and TTWA, and controlling for selection effects, we estimate the causal effect on the gender gap in high school test scores at age 16. We find that, when comparing schools in TTWAs in the treatment to their counterparts in the control group, there is a statistically significant and positive effect on the educational gender gap in favor of females of between 0.3 and 0.6 points. Girls at the upper end of the attainment distribution achieved much better scores. Robustness checks show that school composition and area effects are important. We explore the implications for education policy. |
| Keywords: | Covid-19, Educational Gender Gap, School Performance |
| JEL: | I2 I24 I19 |
| Date: | 2024 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lan:wpaper:415678839 |
| By: | Maia, Alexandre Gori; Lu, Yao |
| Abstract: | We investigate differences in earnings penalties associated with working from home (WFH) between groups of gender and race before and during the COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil. Using a large and nationally representative longitudinal dataset, we show that the earnings penalty associated with WFH diminished for White and Black men during the pandemic while remaining high for White and Black women. We further examine three mechanisms explaining these changes: i) the equilibrium between supply and demand, as more women than men transitioned to WFH during the pandemic; ii) labor productivity, as the effective working hours of Black women were more affected by WFH; and ii) visibility and promotion, as White women became less likely than White men to be promoted when WFH during the pandemic. |
| Keywords: | Gender and race disparities;Telework;remote work;Labor market inequalities;Wage penalty |
| JEL: | J16 J21 J31 |
| Date: | 2024–08 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:idb:brikps:13674 |
| By: | Eshita Goswami (Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research) |
| Abstract: | This study estimates the impact of teacher gender and tests for role model effects on various student outcomes such as test scores, transferrable skills, attendance and attitudes. We perform the analysis for subjects, such as Maths and English, which are male-dominated and female-dominated respectively as per traditional beliefs. We find that there is a presence of female role models when females teach English. However, female Maths teachers negatively affect students' outcomes. We attribute this to students' traditional perceptions regarding females being worse Maths teachers than males. We also perform a sub-sample analysis for co-ed sections and find that the role model effects get diluted, attributing to the influence of opposite gender peers in these sections. |
| Keywords: | Gender, Role Models, Test Scores, Attendance, Attitudes, Co-Educational Schools, Single-Sex Schools |
| JEL: | J16 I21 I24 |
| Date: | 2024–08 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ind:igiwpp:2024-016 |
| By: | Despina Gavresi (DEM, University of Luxembourg); Anastasia Litina (Department of Economics, University of Macedonia); George Mavropoulos (Department of Economics, University of Macedonia); Sofia Tsitou (Department of Economics, University of Ioannina) |
| Abstract: | This paper explores the interplay between social norms i.e., attitudes on gender equality and strength of family ties, and the spread of COVID-19. To undertake our analysis we combine sub-national (Nuts 1 regions) data for the social norms from the Integrated Values Survey (IVS) from 1981 to 2019 and the spread of COVID-19 measured by the excess mortality rate in Nuts 1 European regions in 2020 and 2021. Exploiting regional variation, we empirically establish that in regions with norms favoring gender equality, the excess mortality associated with the spread of COVID-19 is lower. Our hypothesized underlying mechanism is that women respect social distancing more, thereby in a country where women enjoy more respect, the influence more strongly their families to do the same thus diminishing the virus diffusion. Concerning the strength of family times, we find that regions with stronger family ties are associated with a higher COVID-19 excess mortality rate, hinting to the higher involvement of the elderly in family affairs. |
| Keywords: | COVID-19, Women Equality, Family Ties, Social Norms, Culture |
| JEL: | O4 Z12 |
| Date: | 2024–06 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mcd:mcddps:2024_06 |
| By: | Rishabh Tyagi (Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany); Peter Eibich (Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany); Vegard Skirbekk (Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany) |
| Abstract: | We study the impact of job loss on the risk of separation among German couples. We focus on job losses due to plant closures and involuntary dismissals as a source of variation that is likely to be independent of other individual risk factors for partnership dissolution. We use panel data from the German Socio-Economic Panel Study (1986–2019) for persons aged 20-65. We use event study design and propensity score matching combined with the difference-in-differences approach to analyse the effects of involuntary job loss on the likelihood of divorce or separation within three years. First, in our event study design, we find an increase in the probability of union dissolution in the year following job loss by around two percentage points (ppts). In our matching design combined with the difference-in-differences approach, union dissolution risk increases by 2.12 ppts for our treatment group compared to our control group within three years of the job loss. This increase in union dissolution risk is slightly higher in the case of male job loss (2.23 ppts) than for job loss among women (1.64 ppts) over three years compared to those not exposed to involuntary job loss. We analyse differences between East and West Germany and between migrants from different countries of origin to examine the role of gender norms. Gender norms in the place of origin do not seem to explain the increased union dissolution risk. However, the individual-level gender norms based on males’ share of home production activities in the couple over the years show an increased risk of union dissolution for the traditional half and no effect for the liberal half of the men losing their jobs. The effect of involuntary job loss on union dissolution risk is mediated by declining family life satisfaction, males’ share of hours spent on home production and lower household income for the person experiencing involuntary job loss. |
| Keywords: | Germany, dismissal, division of labor, divorce, economic demography |
| JEL: | J1 Z0 |
| Date: | 2024 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dem:wpaper:wp-2024-027 |
| By: | Marie Blaise; Sandrine Juin; Hélène Le Forner; Quitterie Roquebert |
| Abstract: | Despite a shift towards more balanced gender roles, women continue to carry out the bulk of domestic work at home. At the same time, they face competing demands from outside the household. This paper investigates the gendered effect of providing care to an older parent outside the household on individuals’ time allocation within couples. We focus on time spent on housework, distinguishing between household chores and more enjoyable tasks and on leisure with and without the partner. Data are drawn from the latest French Time-Use Survey (Enquête Emploi Du Temps, 2010). To tackle endogeneity issues, we instrument informal care by having at least one parent alive. Our results differ according to gender. When providing care, women tend to spend less time on housework. Irrespective of their own caregiving status, they spend more time on household chores when their male partners care for an older parent. In contrast, men’s time allocation within the household appears to be less impacted by any informal care provision. |
| Keywords: | Time allocation; Informal Care; Leisure; Housework; Gender |
| Date: | 2024–09 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:irs:cepswp:2024-05 |
| By: | Dhamija, Gaurav; Mookerjee, Mehreen; Ojha, Manini; Roy, Sanket |
| Abstract: | We evaluate the causal impact of average neighbourhood attitudes justifying intimate partner violence (IPV) on own attitudes using nationally representative data from the fifth wave of the National Family Health Survey of India. To address endogeneity concerns in estimating peer in uences, we utilize exogenous variation in the average exposure of neighbourhood women to their parental IPV in a leave-one-out instrumental variable strategy. We find robust evidence that a 1 sd increase in a woman's average neighbourhood attitudes justifying IPV leads to a 0.36 sd increase in her attitudes justifying the same. We establish the importance of peer in uences on a woman's acceptability of IPV as justifi- able, especially among less educated, unemployed, having no assets or media exposure and bearing more daughters than sons, making them more impressionable. This underscores the need for enhanced implementation of policies targeting women's empowerment to arrest the perpetration of gender-biased social norms. |
| Keywords: | Neighbourhood, Domestic Violence, Social Effects, Attitudes, Instrumental Variable, India |
| JEL: | C26 J12 J16 O12 |
| Date: | 2024 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:glodps:1486 |