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on Gender |
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Issue of 2026–01–12
nine papers chosen by Jan Sauermann, Institutet för Arbetsmarknads- och Utbildningspolitisk Utvärdering |
| By: | Kaiser, Ulrich (University of Zurich); Mata, José (Copenhagen Business School) |
| Abstract: | We study whether gender norms—proxied by Switzerland’s 1981 referendum on constitutional gender equality—continue to shape women’s entrepreneurship today, despite major demographic change. Using startup data for all Swiss municipalities from 2016 to 2023, we find that places with stronger historical support for gender equality have significantly higher women-to-men startup ratios. A one–percentage point increase in the 1981 “yes” vote share is associated with a 0.165 percent increase in this ratio. The result is robust to controlling for later gender-related referenda, extensive municipal characteristics, and contemporary policy measures. The association is stronger in municipalities with more stable populations and in less religious municipalities. Childcare spending alone is not linked to startup rates, but it positively affects women’s entrepreneurship when combined with supportive historical gender norms, highlighting the joint role of formal policies and informal social support. |
| Keywords: | Switzerland, female founders, cultural persistence, entrepreneurship, gender norms |
| JEL: | J16 L26 Z13 |
| Date: | 2025–12 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp18337 |
| By: | Christopher W. Gardiner (Universität Hamburg); Eva Markowsky (Universität Potsdam, CEPA) |
| Abstract: | This paper analyses a crucial aspect of the gender gap in competitive behaviour: performance under competitive pressure. We rely on existing experimental evidence to test the prevalent hypothesis that women ’choke’ under pressure while men increase their performance in high-pressure environments. To this aim, we combine the evidence of 70 experimental studies reporting 237 effect sizes that contrast gender differences in performance in various real-effort tasks in non-competitive and competitive settings. Contrary to prevalent belief, the gender gap in performance does not systematically increase under competitive pressure. |
| Keywords: | competitiveness, performance, experiments, gender, meta-analysis |
| JEL: | J16 D91 C9 |
| Date: | 2025–12 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pot:cepadp:94 |
| By: | Katsunori Minami; Ryo Sakamoto |
| Abstract: | Gender equality plays a pivotal role in fostering human prosperity, shaping labor markets, fertility decisions, and the sustainability of social institutions. This study investigates how the prevailing gender norms in a country influence the fertility rate and long-term economic growth. To this end, we develop an overlapping generations model featuring endogenous fertility and labor supply in which both gender norms and research and development activities are explicitly incorporated. We show that conservative gender norms reduce both the fertility rate and the rate of income growth in the steady state. We further explore the impact of a policy intervention that relaxes gender norms and analyze the ensuing transition dynamics, deriving implications for policy design and welfare. Finally, we extend the model to examine how a gradual evolution in gender norms affects the long-run development of the economy. |
| Date: | 2025–06 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dpr:wpaper:1291r |
| By: | Niessen-Ruenzi, Alexandra; Mueden, Vanessa; Zimmerer, Leah |
| Abstract: | Women are significantly less likely to participate in the stock market than men. We show that financial socialization plays an important role in explaining this gap. Survey data from Germany and the U.S. indicate that parents discuss financial matters less frequently with their daughters than with their sons. Women also report fewer financial role models and less exposure to peers who invest in the stock market. We find that this early-life difference in financial socialization leads to lower financial literacy and lower financial confidence of women later in life, and also explains why they are less likely to participate in the stock market than men. |
| Keywords: | Gender investment gap, Financial socialization, Financial literacy, Stock market participation |
| JEL: | G11 G41 G53 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:zewdip:333902 |
| By: | Cunningham, Scott (Baylor University); Di Tommaso, Maria Laura (University of Torino); Melo, António (University of Turin); Mendolia, Silvia (University of Turin); Savio, Giulia (University of Turin) |
| Abstract: | Bullying is a widespread form of aggression that emerges early in childhood and is common in school settings. Using Italian data from the National Institute for the Evaluation of Education and Training (INVALSI) on primary school students, we document gender differences in self-reported bullying, both as victims and perpetrators, across multiple dimensions. Bullying is more prevalent among boys on both fronts. Exploiting the quasi-random allocation of students to classes within schools, we show that a higher share of boys increases reported victimization among girls, particularly in forms such as mockery and verbal insults. These effects are associated with lower well-being among girls. The findings point to a spillover of violence from boys to girls as the share of male peers increases, highlighting the role of classroom gender composition in shaping early peer interactions and the need for caution when managing gender imbalances in elementary education. |
| Keywords: | violence, bullying, education, gender differences, primary school |
| JEL: | I24 J13 |
| Date: | 2025–12 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp18332 |
| By: | Kotsadam, Andreas (Ragnar Frisch Centre for Economic Research); Løvgren, Mette (Oslo Metropolitan University); Moreau, Nicolas (Université de la Réunion); Stancanelli, Elena G. F. (Paris School of Economics); van Soest, Arthur (Tilburg University) |
| Abstract: | We study how working from home links to gendered attitudes about household work and childcare. Using a vignette experiment embedded in a regular Dutch population representative survey, we randomly vary the gender of the partner working from home in a hypothetical dual-earner couple. When presented with various routine and emergency chores, respondents, on average, agree that the partner working from home should execute them. These effects are significantly larger when the vignette randomly depicts a man, rather than a woman, working from home, but these gender differences in respondents’ expectations vanish in a scenario where no partner works from home. All in all, the evidence gathered indicates that Work from Home may blast rather than boost gender norms around household work and childcare. |
| Keywords: | gender norms, household work, work from home, vignette |
| JEL: | D13 D83 J16 J22 M54 |
| Date: | 2025–12 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp18324 |
| By: | Deng, Zichen (University of Amsterdam); Luo, Weixiang (Fudan University, China); Plug, Erik (University of Amsterdam); Yu, Jia (Peking University) |
| Abstract: | We document, for the very first time, the relationship between earnings and sexual orientation in China. Using data from the 2020 Chinese Private Life Survey, we find that gay men earn significantly less than comparable heterosexual men, with the largest penalties for rural-hukou holders and among men reporting exclusive same-sex attraction. Lesbian women tend to earn more than heterosexual women, but the differences are small and mostly insignificant. The estimates for bisexual men and women are uniformly insignificant. We conclude that the gay penalties and lesbian premiums in China, albeit imprecisely estimated, mirror those observed in Western labor markets and are most consistent with explanations based on conventional gender norms and intra-household specialization. |
| Keywords: | earnings, sexual orientation, China |
| JEL: | D10 J10 J15 J30 J70 O10 |
| Date: | 2025–12 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp18317 |
| By: | Singhal, Karan (University of Luxembourg, LISER); Sierminska, Eva (Luxembourg Institute of Socio-Economic Research (LISER)) |
| Abstract: | We study the determinants of field specialization among U.S. economics PhD students, focusing on individual, institutional, and contextual factors shaping early research careers. Using data on over 8, 000 dissertations from 2009–2018, we classify each dissertation into one of ten fields using author-reported JEL codes and topic modeling of abstracts. We link dissertations to student gender, program characteristics, and country of origin inferred from surnames and matched to country-level indicators. We find substantial variation in field choice by region of origin. Gender gaps in specialization are not uniform but vary in size and direction across regions, indicating that gender and origin interact in shaping choices. Results are robust to alternative classification methods and to using genetic distance as a continuous measure of origin. Our findings highlight how early specialization in economics reflects inherited context and institutional exposure, with implications for research agendas, job market outcomes, and diversity across subfields. |
| Keywords: | topic modeling, JEL, economics PhD students, field specialization, diversity in economics |
| JEL: | J15 J16 |
| Date: | 2025–12 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp18348 |
| By: | Antman, Francisca M. (University of Colorado, Boulder); Skoy, Evelyn (Hamilton College); Kim, Paul (University of Colorado, Boulder) |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the impact of international students on the academic outcomes of domestic peers in introductory economics courses. We address the potential endogeneity of class selection by focusing on first-year students enrolling in a large public flagship university, for whom class assignment is likely to be quasi-random, conditional on a rich set of control variables for the class and individual. Results suggest an increased share of international student peers reduces the likelihood of majoring in economics for domestic White and Asian men while increasing the likelihood of majoring in economics for domestic men from underrepresented racial and ethnic groups. There is also evidence that higher shares of international student peers increase the likelihood that domestic White and Asian men major in business and decrease the likelihood that some men drop out of college. Additional analyses point to introductory course grades as possible mechanisms to explain these results, as a higher international peer share is associated with higher domestic student grades. Results for men enrolled in large introductory economics classes are similar to the main results for men overall and are also similar for women. |
| Keywords: | race/ethnicity, college dropout, college major, immigration, higher education, peer effects, gender, international, foreign |
| JEL: | I23 J15 |
| Date: | 2025–12 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp18341 |