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on Labour Economics |
| By: | Achard, Pascal; Wagner, Sander |
| Abstract: | This paper quantifies how motherhood penalties vary across firms. Using Dutch administrative employer–employee data we estimate firm-specific motherhood penalties in earnings, hours, wages, and labor force participation for 2, 877 firms. We document large heterogeneity: over the ten years following childbirth, mothers at firms in the 10th percentile of the penalty distribution experience earnings losses exceeding 50 percent, compared with about 20 percent at firms in the 90th percentile. Differences across firms are driven primarily by adjustments in hours worked. Firm-level variation in motherhood penalties rivals differences observed across countries, highlighting the central role of workplaces in shaping gender inequality. |
| Date: | 2026–02–17 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:socarx:nmgxz_v1 |
| By: | Henrik Kleven; Camille Landais; Anne Sophie S. Lassen; Philip Rosenbaum; Herdis Steingrimsdottir; Jakob Egholt Søgaard |
| Abstract: | We study whether policy can shift gendered beliefs, norms, and labor market outcomes by exploiting a major expansion of earmarked paternity leave in Denmark. The reform generated large first-stage effects, substantially reallocating leave from mothers to fathers. Using a regression discontinuity design combined with new survey data linked to administrative records, we show that the reform makes parents more supportive of paternity leave, shifts gender-role beliefs in a progressive direction, and reduces perceived differences in childcare ability. The reform also narrows gender gaps in earnings and hours worked. The earnings gap falls by 33pp in the first year following childbirth (during leave) and by 2.8pp in the second year (after leave). These results demonstrate that policy can meaningfully influence beliefs, norms, and gender inequality. On the other hand, earmarking restricts families’ ability to allocate leave freely and lowers leave satisfaction, highlighting a central trade-off inherent in paternalistic policies. |
| JEL: | J13 |
| Date: | 2026–02 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:34862 |
| By: | Nagler, Markus (Friedrich Alexander Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Germany); Winkler, Erwin (Friedrich Alexander Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Germany) |
| Abstract: | A large literature investigates the employment effects of minimum wages, with comparatively little evidence on other adjustment margins. In this paper, we analyze the impact of a nationwide introduction of minimum wages in Germany on employer-induced work pressure, using detailed worker-level survey data. Applying a difference-in-differences approach, we show that the introduction of minimum wages increased work pressure in occupations more exposed to the minimum wage. The increase in work pressure cannot be explained by compositional changes in terms of demographics, job complexity, or hours worked. |
| Keywords: | minimum wage, work pressure, non-wage amenities, working conditions, compensating differentials |
| JEL: | J28 J31 J32 J33 J81 H80 I31 I38 K31 |
| Date: | 2026–03 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp18398 |
| By: | Pineda-Hernández, Kevin (ULB (CEBRIG, DULBEA), UMONS (Soci&ter)); Rycx, François (Free University of Brussels); Volral, Mélanie (UMONS (Soci&ter) and ULB (CEBRIG, DULBEA)); Waroquier, Alexandre (ULB (CEBRIG, DULBEA), UMONS (Soci&ter)) |
| Abstract: | While rent-sharing is known to vary according to worker characteristics, the impact of profits on the gender wage gap warrants closer examination. Most studies adopt a single-gender view, neglecting factors tied to bargaining power. Our paper aims to fill this gap using Belgian matched employer-employee data from 1999 to 2016 and by examining whether the relationship between rent-sharing and gender depends on variables reflecting bargaining power, i.e. education, study field, tenure, occupation and wage agreement. Accounting for many covariates and addressing potential endogeneity issues, we find a wage-profit elasticity of 2.8%, which does not differ statistically between women and men. Our results further indicate that firms share more of their profits with workers who have greater bargaining power, as assessed by our moderators. This result holds overall for both women and men, so that the price effect associated with rent-sharing is generally insignificant in explaining the gender wage gap. Conversely, given that women, regardless of their bargaining power, tend to be employed in less profitable firms than their male counterparts, the quantity effect associated with rent-sharing appears to play a non-negligible role. |
| Keywords: | rent-sharing, linked employer-employee data, wage decompositions, instrumental variables, gender wage gap, bargaining power |
| JEL: | C26 J16 J24 J31 |
| Date: | 2026–03 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp18388 |
| By: | R. Jason Faberman; Andreas I. Mueller; Ayşegül Şahin |
| Abstract: | This paper studies gender gaps in labor-market outcomes, with a focus on job ladder dynamics. We show that women experience substantially lower wage growth conditional on prior wages despite nearly identical job-to-job transition rates for men and women. To reconcile these observations, we document gender differences in the valuation of nonwage job amenities and in job search behavior, and develop a multi-dimensional job-ladder model with endogenous search effort where workers value both wages and amenities. The model allows for gender heterogeneity in separation rates, search effort, the value of nonemployment, amenity valuations, and bargaining power, enabling a joint analysis of gender wage and employment gaps. A quantitative decomposition shows that differences in preferences for nonwage amenities account for nearly 40 percent of the gender pay gap. Differences in the value of nonemployment and bargaining power explain most of the remainder, with only a limited role for differences in separation rates and search behavior. Finally, we show that increases in job amenities—such as the expansion of remote work—raise the gender wage gap while reducing gender differences in employment. |
| JEL: | J16 J60 |
| Date: | 2026–02 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:34877 |
| By: | Devos, Louise (Ghent University); du Bois, Kristen (EDHEC Business School); Baert, Stijn (Ghent University); Lippens, Louis (Ghent University) |
| Abstract: | This study examines how professional recruiters evaluate fictitious job applicants with profiles that systematically vary in signals that form ethnocultural identity rather than isolated minority markers. Using a preregistered factorial survey experiment true to recruiters’ organisational context, we assess how greater perceived distance from the ethnocultural majority is associated with hiring intentions. Structural equation modelling shows that lower perceived ethnocultural alignment is strongly and negatively associated with the likelihood of a candidate being considered for a job interview. This bias is also reflected in the extent to which recruiters identify with a candidate, as well as in taste-based expectations and competence assessments related to communication, efficiency, and leadership. Methodologically, we reinforce the credibility of the experimental findings by explicitly addressing socially desirable responses using three complementary approaches. Across all specifications, perceived alignment with the ethnocultural majority emerges as a robust and consistent correlate of hiring intentions. |
| Keywords: | factorial survey experiment, social desirability, identity, hiring, discrimination |
| JEL: | C83 J61 J71 |
| Date: | 2026–02 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp18372 |
| By: | Mwangi wa Gĩthĩnji; Patrick L. Mason |
| Abstract: | This paper examines Black immigrant occupational integration. We create an Index of Revealed Advantage in Migration, which captures international differences in selectivity. Except for Caribbean-English and Other Immigrants, first generation Black immigrants have lower occupational achievement than native-born Non-Hispanic African Americans, that is, “Native born Blacks.” However, second generation Black immigrants have greater occupational achievement Native born Blacks. Except for Caribbean-English and Other Immigrants, first generation Black immigrants have lower occupational achievement than native-born Non-Hispanic white-only Americans that is, “Native born Whites.” Second generation Africans have statistically identical occupational achievement with Native born Whites; otherwise, each group of second generation Black immigrants has lower occupational achievement Native born Whites. |
| JEL: | J61 J62 J7 Z13 |
| Date: | 2026–02 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:34864 |
| By: | Stephen B. Billings; Mark Hoekstra; Gabriel Pons Rotger |
| Abstract: | While a growing literature has documented the effect of neighborhoods on children, there is little evidence on how neighborhoods impact adults. This study examines the impact of neighborhoods on high-needs families in Denmark who are quasi-randomly assigned to social housing in different neighborhoods. Results indicate a one standard deviation improvement in nearby neighborhood quality causes a 0.08 standard deviation improvement in labor market outcomes, and a 2.8 percent reduction in the likelihood of criminal conviction. Additional results indicate the labor market effects are most consistent with additional job referrals from nearby neighbors, rather than differences in local job availability. |
| JEL: | I38 K42 R23 |
| Date: | 2026–02 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:34872 |
| By: | Virginia Minni (University of Chicago); Kieu-Trang Nguyen (University of Melbourne); Heather Sarsons (University of Chicago); Carla Srebot (University of British Columbia) |
| Abstract: | This paper studies how managers’ gender attitudes shape workplace culture and gender inequality. Using data from a multinational firm operating in over 100 countries, we leverage cross-country manager rotations to identify the effects of male managers’ gender attitudes on gender pay gaps within a team. Managers from countries with one standard deviation more progressive gender attitudes reduce the pay gap by 5 percentage points (18%), largely through higher promotion rates for women. These effects persist after managers rotate out and are strongest in more conservative countries. Managers with progressive attitudes also influence the local office culture, as local managers who interact with but are not under the purview of the foreign manager begin to have smaller pay gaps in their teams. Our evidence points to individual managers as critical in shaping corporate culture. |
| Keywords: | managers, gender gaps, corporate culture, multinationals |
| JEL: | J16 J24 F23 M14 M5 |
| Date: | 2026 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bfi:wpaper:2026-22 |
| By: | Cieply, Isea (University of Goettingen); Barros, Laura (University of Goettingen); Silbersdorff, Alexander (University of Goettingen); Kneib, Thomas (University of Goettingen); Kis-Katos, Krisztina (University of Goettingen) |
| Abstract: | How large is the gender pay gap among university professors, and how do institutional pay-setting mechanisms shape this disparity? This paper provides novel empirical evidence on the gender pay gap among professors at a renowned German university. Using detailed human resources data for the time span 2013 to 2021, we document a statistically significant conditional gender pay gap in professorial salaries of 5.2%, after controlling for employment characteristics, socio-demographics, performance measures, and faculty and year fixed effects. Our findings show that these differentials can be attributed mainly to lower returns from retention negotiations, which have a particularly strong impact during the earlier stages of academic careers. These results highlight the importance of pay system designs in promoting gender equity in academia. |
| Keywords: | gender pay gap, gender economics, wage differentials, wage negotiations, professorial salaries |
| JEL: | E24 J01 J16 J31 |
| Date: | 2026–02 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp18376 |
| By: | Ariel Kalil (Harris School of Public Policy, University of Chicago); Mauricio Koechlin (Harris School of Public Policy, University of Chicago) |
| Abstract: | Early childhood executive function (EF), the cognitive control processes underlying working memory, inhibitory control, and cognitive flexibility, is associated with later-life health and economic outcomes. Using data from Baby's First Years, a randomized trial of unconditional cash transfers to low-income mothers, we examine intergenerational EF transmission from mothers to their four-year-old children (n=769). Cash transfers do not significantly moderate this transmission in the full sample, but among low-EF mothers, where transmission is strongest, transfers attenuate the mother-child association to the point of statistical nonsignificance. Exploratory analysis suggests that increased cognitive stimulation and structured routines may mediate this process. Income support for low-income families may foster intergenerational mobility by weakening the transmission of low self-regulation. |
| Keywords: | Early Childhood, Executive Function, Unconditional Cash Transfers, Intergenerational Mobility, Poverty Policy. |
| Date: | 2026 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bfi:wpaper:2026-30 |
| By: | Mikko Silliman; Juuso Mäkinen |
| Abstract: | This paper provides large-scale evidence linking the economic effects of childcare programs to social skills measured in adulthood. We examine Finland's first national public childcare program, and document that it increased parental labor supply - through retirement - while reducing the intergenerational persistence of income. Critically, we leverage Finnish Defence Forces data on the near population of males to show that effects on children's adult income are underlied by lasting effects on social skills. Further, we show that life-cycle cost-effectiveness estimates based on the assumption of constant effects after typical observation windows can considerably overestimate the net costs of public childcare. |
| Keywords: | early childhood, social skills, parental labor supply |
| JEL: | J08 I24 J24 |
| Date: | 2026 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_12372 |
| By: | Tuuli Paukkeri; Terhi Helena Ravaska |
| Abstract: | Using unique administrative data that link privately held firm owners to rich background information, we provide novel evidence on underage children as firm owners. Ownership occurs at all ages 0--17, with a mean age of 12. Childhood ownership is strongly concentrated among high-income families, creates substantial early-life income flows and exacerbates intergenerational inequality. Firm-owning children have in their childhood average incomes which would place them in the fourth decile of the adult income distribution and which imply wealth holdings at the seventh wealth decile. At age 30, child owners are substantially overrepresented in their cohort’s top 1%. |
| Keywords: | privately held firms, income inequality, income mobility, family business, dynastic wealth |
| JEL: | D31 D64 H32 |
| Date: | 2026 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_12491 |
| By: | Geoffrey Wodtke (University of Chicago Department of Sociology Stone Center for Research on Wealth Inequality and Mobility); Weiqi Wang (University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy Stone Center for Research on Wealth Inequality and Mobility); Kristina Butaeva (University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy Stone Center for Research on Wealth Inequality and Mobility); Steven N. Durlauf (Harris School of Public Policy Stone Center for Research on Wealth Inequality and Mobility and NBER) |
| Abstract: | This paper studies contemporary trends in class mobility using a new approach based on the “synthetic dynasties†represented in Markov chains. This approach yields several novel measures of movement and memory, which respectively capture how class positions differ from one generation to the next and how the influence of class origins dissipates across generations. Applying these methods to data from the U.S., we find that overall levels of movement and memory have remained largely stable across cohorts born between 1945 and 1990. This stability, however, masks offsetting class-specific trends. Among those from the upper and lower classes, movement has declined and memory has increased. In contrast, among the middle classes, movement has risen and memory has weakened. |
| JEL: | D30 H0 J01 |
| Date: | 2026 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bfi:wpaper:2026-25 |
| By: | Christa Deneault; Evan Riehl; Jian Zou |
| Abstract: | We use Texas administrative data to assess the long-standing claim that teacher certification exams discriminate against underrepresented minority (URM) candidates. In a regression discontinuity design, we find that failing a certification exam delays entry into teaching and costs the average candidate $10, 000 in forgone earnings. These costs fall disproportionately on URM candidates both because they are more likely to fail and because their earnings losses from failing are 50 percent larger on average. To examine whether these disparities are justified by racial/ethnic differences in teaching quality, we develop a new measure of disparate impact and estimate it using a policy change that increased the difficulty of Texas' elementary certification exam. The harder exam reduced the URM share of new teachers but had no significant benefits for teaching quality or student achievement. Taken together, our findings show that certification exams have a disparate impact in the sense that they impose much larger economic costs on URM teaching candidates than on white candidates with similar potential teaching quality. |
| JEL: | I24 J44 J71 |
| Date: | 2026–02 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:34860 |
| By: | Beatrix Eugster; Kelli Marquardt; Aurélien Sallin |
| Abstract: | Female students are less likely to be identified as intellectually gifted than male students when the identification process follows a two-stage procedure. We posit and quantify two mechanisms that explain this gender gap. First, at any level of IQ, but especially at high levels of IQ, male students are more likely nominated for assessment due to higher salience of externalizing behaviors. This difference accounts for roughly 70% of the gender gap in giftedness identification. Second, the remainder of the gap is explained by the use of lower referral thresholds for male students, all else equal. We discuss policy implications. |
| Keywords: | gifted education, two-stage diagnosis, gender gap |
| JEL: | I21 I24 J16 |
| Date: | 2026 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_12382 |
| By: | Cabrera-Hernández, Francisco (Centro de Investigación y Docencia Económicas); Dustan, Andrew (William and Mary); Osuna-Gomez, Daniel (Banco de México); Padilla-Romo, María (University of Tennessee) |
| Abstract: | We estimate the long-run effects of marginal admission to elite public high schools on students' labor supply in the context of Mexico City's centralized high school admission system. Using a regression discontinuity approach, we compare students whose placement exam scores are just above and just below the elite admission threshold. We find that five and ten years after the admission exam, marginally admitted students are less likely to be employed in the formal private sector, and, if employed, they earn lower wages. However, these employment and wage gaps close after 15 years. Moreover, we find that marginal admission to elite high schools leads to delayed entry into the formal labor market, and, at least in the short run, students in elite high schools seem to sort into lower-productivity firms and industries. |
| Keywords: | returns to education, human capital, education in developing countries, formal employment |
| JEL: | I25 I26 J24 O17 |
| Date: | 2026–02 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp18369 |
| By: | Cavallo, Mariagrazia (Luxembourg Institute of Socio-Economic Research); Dhuey, Elizabeth (University of Toronto); Fumarco, Luca (Masaryk University, GLO, IZA, J-PAL.); Halewyck, Levi (Maastricht University); ter Meulen, Simon (ifo Institute, University of Munich, CESifo) |
| Abstract: | This article reviews the growing literature on age at school entry and its effects over the life course. Age at school entry affects a broad range of outcomes, including education, labor-market performance, health, social relationships, and family formation. We synthesize the evidence using a conceptual framework that distinguishes four empirically intertwined components of age at school entry: starting age, age at outcome, relative age, and time in school. Within this framework, we highlight six key channels through which age at school entry operates. While the effects of age at school entry are often substantial and persistent, many studies estimate bundled impacts without isolating specific components or directly measuring underlying mechanisms. We explain how different research designs capture distinct combinations of these components. We also highlight how institutional heterogeneity and behavioral responses can complicate the interpretation of results. We conclude by outlining directions for future research and policy design. |
| Keywords: | age at school entry, starting age, age at outcome, relative age, time in school, institutional mechanisms, quasi-experimental methods |
| JEL: | I12 I21 I24 I31 J12 J13 J24 K42 |
| Date: | 2026–02 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp18373 |
| By: | Khaliliaraghi, Negar (IFAU); Lundborg, Petter (Lund University); Vikström, Johan (IFAU) |
| Abstract: | Gender gaps in earnings persist even among high-skilled workers, partly because men and women often perform different tasks within and across jobs. We study a rare setting in which high-skilled men and women perform the same tasks under comparable conditions, allowing us to assess gender differences in productivity and pay without confounding from task or client allocation. Using administrative data from the Swedish Public Employment Service, we exploit a rotation scheme that quasi-randomly assigns job seekers to employment caseworkers. We find that productivity differences are small: job seekers assigned to female and male caseworkers exit unemployment at similar rates, and hourly wages—conditional on productivity—are nearly identical across genders. Despite this, female caseworkers earn about 8 percent less per year, entirely due to differences in contracted and actual hours worked. We also find suggestive evidence that male caseworkers are more likely to be promoted than equally productive female colleagues. When tasks are standardized and performance is measured objectively, gender differences in productivity and hourly pay are minimal, while gaps in annual earnings and career progression persist. |
| Keywords: | gender gaps, productivity, wages, task allocation |
| JEL: | D84 I12 J12 J21 |
| Date: | 2026–02 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp18379 |
| By: | Sauermann, Jan (Institute for Evaluation of Labour Market and Education Policy (IFAU), Copenhagen Business School; Institute of Labor Economics (IZA); ROA, Maastricht University; UCLS, Uppsala University.) |
| Abstract: | Do reciprocal workers have higher returns to employer-sponsored training? Using a field experiment with random assignment to training combined with survey information on workers’ reciprocal inclinations, the results show that reciprocal workers reciprocate employers’ training investments by higher post-training performance. This result, which is robust to controlling for observed personality traits and worker fixed effects, suggests that individuals reciprocate the firm’s human capital investment with higher effort, in line with theoretical models on gift exchange in the workplace. This finding provides an alternative rationale to explain firm training investments even with risk of poaching. |
| Keywords: | on-the-job training; reciprocity; worker performance; field experiment |
| JEL: | D03 J24 M53 |
| Date: | 2026–02–17 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:ifauwp:2026_003 |
| By: | Bhalotra, Sonia (University of Warwick); Daysal, N. Meltem (University of Copenhagen); Freget, Louis (Paris Dauphine University-PSL); Hirani, Jonas (VIVE); Majumdar, Priyama (Warwick); Trandafir, Mircea (Rockwool Foundation Research Unit); Wüst, Miriam (University of Copenhagen); Zohar, Tom (CEMFI) |
| Abstract: | Using Danish administrative data linked to two independent, validated postpartum depression screenings, we study how postpartum mental health shocks shape women’s labor market trajectories. Event-study estimates show no pre-birth differences in trends between depressed and non-depressed mothers, but persistent employment gaps that widen immediately after birth. Health-care utilization patterns indicate that these differences reflect acute mental health shocks rather than pre-existing trends. The penalties are concentrated among less educated mothers and those in less family-friendly jobs. Our results highlight postpartum depression as a meaningful and unequal contributor to the motherhood penalty. |
| Keywords: | postpartum depression, motherhood penalty, labor market inequality |
| JEL: | I12 J13 J16 |
| Date: | 2026–02 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp18366 |
| By: | Laverde, Mariana (Boston College); Mykerezi, Elton (University of Minnesota); Sojourner, Aaron (Upjohn Institute for Employment Research); Sood, Aradhya (University of Toronto) |
| Abstract: | This paper studies the relative importance of teacher-student match effects and general teacher effectiveness in producing student learning, and quantifies gains from alternative teacher assignments. We estimate a framework that separates these components, allowing match quality to vary with observable student characteristics and unobservable teacher-school factors. Using more than a decade of administrative data from a large urban district, we address endogenous sorting with quasi-random assignment variation induced by differences in driving time between teachers and schools. Match effects are similar in magnitude to general effectiveness. Teacher-acceptable reassignments can raise average test scores by about 0.13 standard deviations. |
| Keywords: | teacher effectiveness, teacher–student match effects, assignment and sorting, education production, labor markets in education |
| JEL: | I21 J45 I24 J24 |
| Date: | 2026–03 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp18397 |