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on Gender |
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Issue of 2025–09–22
four papers chosen by Jan Sauermann, Institutet för Arbetsmarknads- och Utbildningspolitisk Utvärdering |
| By: | Blundell, Jack; Duchini, Emma; Simion, Ştefania; Turrell, Arthur |
| Abstract: | Since 2018, UK firms with at least 250 employees have been mandated to publicly disclose gender equality indicators. Exploiting variations in this mandate across firm size and time, we show that pay transparency closes 19 percent of the gender pay gap by reducing men’s pay growth. By combining different sources of data, we also provide suggestive evidence that the public availability of the equality indicators enhances public scrutiny. In turn, employers more exposed to public scrutiny seem to reduce their gender pay gap the most. |
| Keywords: | pay transparency; gender pay gap; public disclosure |
| JEL: | J16 J24 J31 L25 |
| Date: | 2025–05–01 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:129500 |
| By: | Masahiko ASANO; Yoshikuni ONO; Yuya ENDO |
| Abstract: | Voters hold gender-based stereotypes of male and female candidates and often evaluate them on these grounds. This bias extends beyond policy areas to personality traits, with many voters stereotyping male candidates as tough and aggressive while expecting female candidates to be gentle, compassionate, and likable. Existing research indicates that female candidates adopt strategic behaviors during election campaigns, utilizing more positive and less negative emotive language than their male counterparts. This study examined whether these gender differences also manifest in candidates’ facial expressions during election campaigns. Our analysis of campaign pictures used by over 10, 000 candidates in Japan’s national elections from 1996 to 2024 revealed that female candidates smiled more often than their male counterparts. Moreover, female candidates received fewer votes when they did not smile in their campaign photos. These findings suggest that female candidates are strategically motivated to conform to gender-typical behaviors to appeal to voters and avoid electoral backlash. |
| Date: | 2025–09 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eti:dpaper:25088 |
| By: | Bhukta, Rikhia |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the unintended gendered effects of manufacturing growth in India, focusing on son preference. For identification, I leverage a place-based tax exemption policy under the Finance Act of 1994, which incentivized manufacturing sector investments in backward districts, and employ a regression discontinuity design using three nationally representative datasets. Results show increases in women's stated son preference, likelihood of having at least one son, and son-to-daughter ratios. Higher son preference is mediated through male-biased employment gains in the manufacturing sector, stagnant female employment, reinforced patriarchal gender norms, and dowry inflation. The findings underscore that not all drivers of structural transformation benefit women, as gender norms shape who gains from growth. By documenting these spillovers, this study broadens the understanding of manufacturing policies and their social costs. |
| Keywords: | Manufacturing Growth, Son Preference, Gender Norms, Place-Based Policies, Regression Discontinuity |
| JEL: | J16 O14 J13 O25 R58 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:glodps:1664 |
| By: | Jennifer Hook; Meiying Li |
| Abstract: | We investigate whether work-family policies help incorporate women into the labor market, but exacerbate the gender earnings gap and motherhood penalty, especially for mothers and/or tertiary-educated women. We use repeated cross-sectional income data from the Luxembourg Income Study Database (LIS) 1999–2019 (n = 26 countries, 280 country-years, 2.9 million employees) combined with an original collection of indicators on work-family policies, labor market conditions, and gender norms. We find only one work-family policy, long paid parental leave (> 6 months), is associated with a larger gender earnings gap for mothers and tertiary-educated women. The negative relationship between long paid leave and women’s earning percentile is not well explained by selection, full-time status, work hours, experience, occupation, or sector, suggesting discrimination mechanisms. Our findings add to the growing evidence that long paid leave specifically, as opposed to work-family policies more generally, cleave the labor market outcomes of women from men. |
| Date: | 2025–07 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lis:liswps:901 |