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on Gender |
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Issue of 2025–01–20
seven papers chosen by Jan Sauermann, Institutet för Arbetsmarknads- och Utbildningspolitisk Utvärdering |
| By: | Bruno César Araújo; Lourenço S. Paz; James E. West |
| Abstract: | We use Brazilian administrative employer-employee matched data of worker demographics, industry of affiliation, occupation, and wages to examine whether females in managerial and executive positions (cracks in the glass ceiling) lead to more gender-equal workplace outcomes. In response to the large and unanticipated 1999 Brazilian Real exchange rate devaluation, the gender wage gap widened across all firms. The contrast between female and male-led firms was large and highly significant regarding managerial and supervisory employees. Both the gender wage gap and the proportion of female employees grew more in female-led firms than in male-led firms, consistent with the predictions of our monopsony model of firm behavior. We conclude that exports further crack the glass ceiling but do not necessarily improve the gender wage gap. |
| JEL: | F12 J16 J31 |
| Date: | 2024–12 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:33260 |
| By: | Abel, Martin (Bowdoin College); Bomfim, Emma (Bowdoin College); Cisneros, Izzy (Bowdoin College); Coyle, Jackson (Bowdoin College); Eraou, Song (Bowdoin College); Gebeyehu, Martha (Bowdoin College); Hernandez, Gerardo (Bowdoin College); Juantorena, Julian (Bowdoin College); Kaplan, Lizzy (Bowdoin College); Marquez, Danielle (Bowdoin College); Mullen, Jack (Bowdoin College); Mulhern, Peyton (Bowdoin College); Opong-Nyantekyi, Ayana (Bowdoin College); Osathanugrah, Rin (Bowdoin College); Paul, Joe (Bowdoin College); Philie, Austin (Bowdoin College); Tingley, Luke (Bowdoin College); Wang, Jingyi (Bowdoin College) |
| Abstract: | We conduct an incentivized experiment with a nationally representative sample to investigate gender discrimination among people receiving advice on risky investments. Participants learn about actual start-up firms they can invest in. Before deciding how much of their endowment to invest, they receive recommendations from either female or male professionals. We find that before outcomes are revealed, participants are equally likely to follow recommendations of female and male advisors. Likewise, we observe no gender discrimination following advice that proves correct. However, for advice that turns out to be incorrect, advisor gender significantly impacts the decisions made by male participants. They invest 47% less in the direction of this advice compared to situations where male advisors were incorrect. These differences are not explained by participants' stated views on gender roles and advisors' ability as well as the level of attention towards female advisors. |
| Keywords: | gender discrimination, investment decisions, financial advising |
| JEL: | J70 G11 |
| Date: | 2024–12 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp17537 |
| By: | Mocanu, Tatiana (Columbia University) |
| Abstract: | I combine novel data on job applications and hiring decisions for the universe of public sector jobs in Brazil and a natural experiment that decreased discretion in hiring to analyze how screening determines gender application and hiring gaps. I find that hiring practices have crucial gender equity consequences for selection and sorting, and not all approaches to reduce discretion have the same implications. Limiting discretion in existing tools or adding new impartial tools reduces the gender hiring gap by a third. However, policies that eliminate subjective tools like interviews are ineffective, suggesting employers should carefully weigh bias-information trade-offs. |
| Keywords: | hiring practices, gender bias, public sector personnel |
| JEL: | M51 D73 J16 J45 J71 |
| Date: | 2024–11 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp17480 |
| By: | Monica Bozzano (University of Milan); Simona Scabrosetti (University of Pavia) |
| Abstract: | We investigate the gender gaps in preferences for redistribution using data from the European Social Survey (ESS) over the period spanning from 2002 to 2022. We integrate individual-level socioeconomic and demographic characteristics, attitudinal factors, and macro- level influences. Our findings confirm significant differences among genders, with women generally expressing stronger preferences for redistribution than men. However, we uncover the multidimensionality of these gaps. Through a Gelbach decomposition analysis, our study identifies differences in beliefs and attitudes, especially egalitarian values and political ideology, as primary drivers of the observed gaps. Additionally, we document that not all women are more redistributive than men. The gender gaps, indeed, are neither uniform across age cohorts nor along different country-level conditions. Overall, the adult gender gap is the most pronounced, even if this evidence varies along macroeconomic contexts, across welfare regimes, and over time. Our findings underscore the complexity of redistributive preferences, representing a challenge for future policy design from a gender-sensitive perspective. |
| Keywords: | preferences for redistribution, gender gaps, self-interest, attitudes and beliefs, contextual factors, cohort differences, welfare regimes |
| JEL: | H00 J1 P50 |
| Date: | 2024–12 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipu:wpaper:118 |
| By: | Giannantoni, Costanza; Rodríguez-Pose, Andrés |
| Abstract: | Declining fertility and the persistent underrepresentation of women in the labour market are key concerns of our time. The fact that they overlap is not fortuitous. Traditionally, women everywhere have faced a conflict in balancing their career ambitions with family responsibilities. Yet, the pressures arising from this conflict vary enormously from one place to another. Existing research has tended to overlook the geographical features of this dilemma, which could result in an inadequate understanding of the issue and lead to ineffective policy responses. This paper examines how variations in the quality of regional institutions affect women’s capacity to reconcile career and motherhood and, consequently, gender equality within Europe. Using panel data from 216 regions across 18 European countries, we uncover a positive effect of regional institutional quality on fertility rates, taking into account variations in female employment. Moreover, we show that European regions with better government quality provide a more reliable environment for managing the career/motherhood dilemma often faced by women. In contrast, women living in regions with weaker government institutions are more constrained in both their career and childbearing options. |
| Keywords: | fertility; gender equality; institutional equality; European regions |
| JEL: | J11 J13 R11 |
| Date: | 2024–11–09 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:125631 |
| By: | Teodora Boneva; Ana Brás-Monteiro; Marta Golin; Christopher Rauh |
| Abstract: | Gender gaps in labor supply and household responsibilities persist. Using representative survey data from 24, 000 respondents across six countries, this paper explores the actual and perceived preferences of men for couple equity. We document that in all six countries the majority of men state they prefer an equitable division of tasks within the household. At the same time, the actual share of men preferring couple equity is systematically underestimated in all six countries. The perceived shares vary substantially across the population, and they are positively associated with respondents’ own preferences for couple equity. Providing respondents with truthful information about the actual share of men preferring couple equity in their country shifts individual beliefs, own stated preferences for couple equity, as well as the willingness to pay for it. The estimated treatment effects are mainly driven by respondents who initially underestimated the actual share. |
| Keywords: | subjective expectations, pluralistic ignorance, identity, norms, couple equity, parental labor supply |
| JEL: | J22 J13 I26 |
| Date: | 2024 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_11536 |
| By: | Kyle Greenberg; Melanie Wasserman; E. Anna Weber |
| Abstract: | Do men negatively respond when women first enter an occupation? We answer this question by studying the end of one of the final explicit occupational barriers to women in the U.S.: in 2016, the U.S. military opened all positions to women, including historically male-only combat occupations. We exploit the staggered integration of women into combat units to estimate the causal effects of the introduction of female colleagues on men’s job performance, behavior, and perceptions of workplace quality, using monthly administrative personnel records and rich survey responses. We find that integrating women into previously all-male units does not negatively affect men’s performance or behavioral outcomes, including retention, promotions, demotions, separations for misconduct, criminal charges, and medical conditions. Most of our results are precise enough to rule out small, detrimental effects. However, there is a wedge between men’s perceptions and performance. The integration of women causes a negative shift in male soldiers’ perceptions of workplace quality, with the effects driven by units integrated with a woman in a position of authority. We discuss how these findings shed light on the roots of occupational segregation by gender. |
| JEL: | H56 J16 J48 |
| Date: | 2024 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_11559 |