|
on Gender |
|
Issue of 2026–08–10
five papers chosen by Jan Sauermann, Institutet för Arbetsmarknads- och Utbildningspolitisk Utvärdering |
| By: | Kamala Babayeva Mustafayeva (Charles University, Prague, Czechia) |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the relationship between economic development and gender gaps in labor-force participation in Southeastern European countries. Using panel data for nine countries over the period 2000–2023, the study estimates fixed-effects models with Driscoll-Kraay standard errors to analyze how gross national income (GNI) per capita is associated with labor-market gender gaps while controlling for fertility, gender norms, and persistence in past gender gaps. The results indicate a positive and statistically significant relationship between economic development and the gender gap in labor-force participation. Overall, the findings suggest that economic development alone may not necessarily lead to narrower labor-market gender gaps, particularly in contexts characterized by persistent household specialization patterns and traditional gender roles. |
| Keywords: | economic development; gender gap; labor force participation; gender norms; Southeastern Europe |
| JEL: | J16 O15 J21 |
| Date: | 2026–07 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fau:wpaper:wp2026_17 |
| By: | Cappellari, Lorenzo (Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore); Colussi, Tommaso (Catholic University Milan); Ovidi, Marco (Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore) |
| Abstract: | We study how committee dynamics affect the recognition of academic excellence and its consequences in the labour market. Using administrative records from a major Italian university and exploiting exogenous variation in the gender composition of graduation committees, we show that equally prepared female graduates are significantly less likely to receive laude honors when evaluated by male-majority committees, while males are unaffected. The effect is concentrated among students advised by female or early-career faculty and disappears when a woman chairs the committee, pointing to the role of authority and influence in deliberations. We show pre-defense gender gaps in adivsors’ official laude requests in male-majority committees, consistent with nominations responding to expected committee support. Gaps in academic distinction translate into meaningful entry-wage penalties, contributing to gender gaps at labor-market entry. |
| Keywords: | gender bias, academic evaluation, labor market outcomes |
| JEL: | J16 I23 J24 |
| Date: | 2026–07 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp18798 |
| By: | Kaur, Sarvnipun; Arora, Anshika; Singh, Prakarsh |
| Abstract: | Night-shift bans prevent women from working nights on equal terms with men. Though most countries repealed such bans, India retains gender-based restrictions. After 2017, several states permitted women in service-establishments to work nightshifts under administrative requirements. Exploiting this staggered rollout, we find reforms reshaped female employment composition without affecting its level. Women in treated-states were 10.1% more likely to be employed in services and 5.3% less likely in non-services. This effect is stronger in safer districts, robust to placebos and contemporaneous manufacturing reforms. Lifting this constraint may expand employment, but administrative-costs can offset these gains. We find the former dominates. |
| Keywords: | Gender, Labor law, Sectoral employment |
| JEL: | J16 J21 J78 K31 |
| Date: | 2026 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:glodps:1791 |
| By: | Francesca Barigozzi; Patrizia Battilani; Maria Elena Bontempi; Petru Calenici |
| Abstract: | This paper studies gender differences in student performance under explicit institutional discrimination, using a newly assembled panel of Italian secondary schools during Fascism. The regime sought to restrict women’s access to advanced education, skilled employment, and teaching positions, yet the feminisation of secondary schooling continued among both students and teachers. Against this hostile institutional background, female students generally outperformed male students, especially in school tracks historically designed for male political and professional elites. The analysis shows that feminisation contributed to this result. A greater exposure to female classmates and female teachers is associated with improved outcomes for girls, particularly in historically male-oriented tracks, whereas the corresponding associations for boys are weaker or differ in sign. These patterns are consistent with peer and role-model mechanisms: female peers and teachers may have made academic success more visible and attainable for girls, lowering the perceived cost of effort in male-typed educational environments. The findings highlight behavioural responses to discriminatory institutions beyond access constraints. |
| JEL: | I24 I28 N34 C23 C26 |
| Date: | 2026–07 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bol:bodewp:wp1228 |
| By: | Riccarda Rosenball (University of Graz, Austria) |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the effect of export entry on the within-firm gender wage gap. Existing studies provide mixed evidence on this relationship. I show that part of this inconsistency reflects how the standard worker-level empirical approach aggregates firm-level treatment effects. When linked employer-employee data are used to estimate effects that operates at the firm level, ordinary least squares (OLS) does not recover a simple average across firms. Instead, firms receive implicit OLS weights that are proportional to the number of worker observations they contribute, giving disproportionate influence to large firms. Applying the standard empirical approach on German data, I estimate that export entry reduces the within-firm gender wage gap by approximately 1.2 percentage points. However, this average effect disappears once the estimation is reweighted by inverse firm size, thereby removing the mechanical firm-size component of the implicit OLS weights. The apparent reduction in the gender wage gap is therefore driven by a small number of large exporters rather than representing a general pattern across firms. The paper highlights an important issue that arises whenever individual-level data are used to estimate treatment effects operating at the group level: in the presence of heterogeneous group-level effects, OLS estimates reflect implicit weighting schemes rather than simple averages across groups. Recognizing these implicit weighting structures is therefore essential for interpreting empirical estimates and drawing policy conclusions. |
| Keywords: | Gender Wage Gap, Exporting Firms, Linked Employer-Employee Data, Heterogenous Effects |
| JEL: | F16 J16 J70 |
| Date: | 2026–07 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:grz:wpaper:2026-14 |