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on Gender |
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Issue of 2024‒07‒22
six papers chosen by Jan Sauermann, Institutet för Arbetsmarknads- och Utbildningspolitisk Utvärdering |
| By: | Cai, Xiqian; Chen, Shuai; Cheng, Zhengquan |
| Abstract: | Gender inequality and discrimination still persist, even though the gender gap in the labor market has been gradually decreasing. This study examines the effect of the #MeToo movement on judges' gender gap in their vital labor market outcome-judicial decisions on randomly assigned legal cases in China. We apply a difference-in-differences approach to unique verdict data including rich textual information on characteristics of cases and judges, and compare changes in sentences of judges of a different gender after the movement. We find that female judges made more severe decisions post-movement, which almost closed the gender gap. Moreover, we explore a potential mechanism of gender norms, documenting evidence for improved awareness of gender equality among women following the movement and stronger effects on judges' gender gap reduction in regions with better awareness of gender equality. This implies that female judges became willing to stand out and speak up, converging to their male counterparts after the #MeToo movement. |
| Keywords: | #MeToo movement, Gender gap, Inequality, Judicial decision, Crime, Machine Learning |
| JEL: | J16 K14 O12 P35 D63 |
| Date: | 2024 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:glodps:1453&r= |
| By: | Mallika Thomas (Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis) |
| Abstract: | Using the historical random assignment of MBA students to peer groups at a top business school in the United States, I study the effect of the gender composition of a student’s peers on the gender pay gap at graduation and long-term labor market outcomes. I find that a 10 percentage point increase in the share of male peers leads to a 2.1 percent increase in the relative earnings of female students at graduation, closing the gender gap in earnings at graduation by two-thirds. The effects on women’s long-term earnings grow even larger with time. Using novel data on job offers, I find that two different mechanisms drive the effects on short- and long-term earnings. Women with a greater share of male peers take more quantitative coursework in business school and receive job offers at graduation in occupations, industries, and firms associated with higher wages, longer hours, and greater earnings growth. However, the effect of male peers on women’s earnings at graduation is primarily driven by female students’ increased willingness to accept the maximum salary offered within their offer set. In contrast, peer-induced effects on human capital alone place female students on dramatically different long-term expected earnings paths due to changes in the initial occupation, initial industry, and initial firm accepted at graduation. This change in the characteristics of the first job at graduation largely explains the effect of peer gender composition on long-term outcomes. |
| Keywords: | peer groups, gender gap, MBA students, course work, job offers, long-term earnings |
| JEL: | I24 I26 J16 J24 J31 J44 |
| Date: | 2024–06 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:upj:weupjo:24-402&r= |
| By: | Wu, Gerald; Lordan, Grace; Nikita, Nikita |
| Abstract: | Evidence from the lab suggests that women are not inclined to compete more than men, but the majority of this evidence relates to Western countries. Our study explores gender differences in the propensity to compete among Chinese individuals. The study uses an online survey distributed to undergraduate and postgraduate degree students in a university located in Shanghai and measures performance among Chinese men and women under different incentive schemes. The results of this study suggest that there are no differences in performance under competitive conditions between Chinese men and women. However, women perform slightly better than men when the element of risk is added in a competitive environment. This study underscores the importance of examining cultural nuances when evaluating gender dynamics in competition and contributes to a more comprehensive understanding of these dynamics in the Chinese context. |
| Keywords: | competition; China; gender differences; labor market; Global South; performance in competition |
| JEL: | N0 R14 J01 |
| Date: | 2024 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:lserod:123930&r= |
| By: | Jaime Arellano-Bover; Nicola Bianchi; Salvatore Lattanzio; Matteo Paradisi |
| Abstract: | This paper studies the interaction between the decrease in the gender pay gap and the stagnation in the careers of younger workers, analyzing data from the United States, Italy, Canada, and the United Kingdom. We propose a model of the labor market in which a larger supply of older workers can crowd out younger workers from top-paying positions. These negative career spillovers disproportionately affect the career trajectories of younger men because they are more likely than younger women to hold higher-paying jobs at baseline. The data strongly support this cohort-driven interpretation of the shrinking gender pay gap. The whole decline in the gap originates from (i) newer worker cohorts who enter the labor market with smaller-than-average gender pay gaps and (ii) older worker cohorts who exit with higher-than-average gender pay gaps. As predicted by the model, the gender pay convergence at labor-market entry stems from younger men's larger positional losses in the wage distribution. Younger men experience the largest positional losses within higher-paying firms, in which they become less represented over time at a faster rate than younger women. Finally, we document that labor-market exit is the sole contributor to the decline in the gender pay gap after the mid-1990s, which implies no full gender pay convergence for the foreseeable future. Consistent with our framework, we find evidence that most of the remaining gender pay gap at entry depends on predetermined educational choices. |
| JEL: | J11 J16 J31 |
| Date: | 2024–06 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:32612&r= |
| By: | Baktash, Mehrzad B.; Heywood, John S.; Jirjahn, Uwe |
| Abstract: | Using German survey data, we show that performance pay is associated with a substantially lower gender hours gap. While performance pay increases the work hours of both men and women, the increase is much larger for women than for men. This finding persists in worker fixed effects estimates. We argue our finding likely reflects differences in household production and specialization by gender. Thus, we show that performance pay is not associated with increased hours for men with children in the household. Yet, performance pay is associated with a very large increase in hours for women with children in the household. |
| Keywords: | Performance Pay, Contracted Hours, Actual Hours, Gender |
| JEL: | D10 J22 J33 M52 |
| Date: | 2024 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:glodps:1450&r= |
| By: | Sievertsen, Hans Henrik (University of Bristol); Smith, Sarah (University of Bristol) |
| Abstract: | This paper reports results from a survey experiment comparing the effect of (the same) opinions expressed by male versus female experts. Members of the public were asked for their opinions on topical issues and shown the opinion of either a male or a female economist, all professors at leading US universities. We find, first, that experts can persuade members of the public - the opinions of individual expert economists have an effect on public opinion - and, second, that the opinions expressed by female economists are more persuasive than the same opinions expressed by male economists. |
| Keywords: | economic expertise, persuasion, gender, stereotypes, survey experiments |
| JEL: | A11 D83 J16 |
| Date: | 2024–05 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp17029&r= |