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on Gender |
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Issue of 2026–06–08
three papers chosen by Jan Sauermann, Institutet för Arbetsmarknads- och Utbildningspolitisk Utvärdering |
| By: | Irmert, Natalie (Department of Economics, Lund University) |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates whether cultural gender norms about occupations, defined as a society’s perception of what is appropriate work for men and women, contribute to persistent gender-stereotypical occupational choice. Using large-scale international survey data and high-quality administrative records, I study whether second-generation immigrant men (women) are less likely to work in an occupation that is perceived as female (male)-typical work in their country of ancestry. I find robust evidence that men, but not women, adhere to occupation-specific cultural gender norms: men are less likely to work in an occupation that is perceived as female work in their country of ancestry, while there is no such effect for women. To investigate mechanisms behind this result, I design an international survey experiment. The results corroborate the gender asymmetry found in the observational data and reveal a social perception penalty for men in heavily female-dominated occupations, but no comparable consistent penalty for women in male-dominated fields. Taken together, the findings of this paper suggest that persistent social norms are a key factor behind the slow integration of men into female-dominated occupations. |
| Keywords: | occupational choice; social norms; epidemiological approach |
| JEL: | J16 J24 J62 |
| Date: | 2026–05–28 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:lunewp:2026_005 |
| By: | Axelle Heyert (University of Quebec in Montreal); Jean-Baptiste Marigo (LaRGE Research Center, Université de Strasbourg); Laurent Weill (LaRGE Research Center, Université de Strasbourg) |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates whether gender norms embedded in folklore shape intimate partner violence. We test the hypothesis that oral traditions that portray men as dominant, violent, and physically active, and women as submissive and domestically oriented, are associated with higher intimate partner violence today. We combine individual-level data on intimate partner violence with folklore-based measures of gender bias constructed from anthropological data on oral traditions covering 92 cultural groups from 26 developing countries over the 2003-2024 period. Our results show a robust and economically significant positive relation between male dominance bias in folklore and women’s exposure to intimate partner violence. Additional analyses reveal that the effect is driven primarily by representations of male violence and dominance, applies to non-sexual physical violence, and is stronger for older women, while being mitigated by education and household wealth. These findings highlight folklore as a persistent cultural foundation of domestic violence and underscore the role of narratives in shaping gendered behaviors. These results suggest that addressing the cultural roots of gender inequality is essential for the success of development interventions aimed at improving women's agency and human capital. |
| JEL: | D63 I31 Z10 Z13 |
| Date: | 2026 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lar:wpaper:2026-03 |
| By: | Christian Møller Dahl (University of Southern Denmark); Nick Ford (University of Southern Denmark); Kristin Ranestad (University of Oslo); Paul Sharp (University of Southern Denmark); Christian Emil Westermann (University of Southern Denmark) |
| Abstract: | When women first entered Norwegian high school examinations in the late nineteenth century, did they outperform men, as they do today? Using a new dataset of 41, 585 graduates from 1813 to 1929, we show that early female students initially achieved better grades than their male peers. However, this advantage disappeared within a generation as access expanded and co-education became institutionalised. After accounting for study programme, socioeconomic background, and type of education, we find rapid convergence in performance and no evidence of adverse effects on male students. The results suggest that contemporary female outperformance is not historically persistent, but a product of more recent institutional and social change. |
| Keywords: | grades, academic achievement, education, human capital, gender |
| JEL: | N33 N34 |
| Date: | 2026–05 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hes:wpaper:0300 |