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on Labour Economics |
| By: | Moritz Drechsel-Grau; Felix Holub |
| Abstract: | We study whether gender-based favoritism impedes women’s career progression using data from a European multinational corporation. Leveraging manager reassignments, we show that manager gender does not affect gender differences, neither in wage growth nor in promotion rates. Remarkably, this holds across a wide range of countries and departments, i.e., workforces that differ substantially in terms of gender norms, occupations, and gender composition, but are all subject to the same management practices and corporate culture. Analyzing performance and potential ratings, we find that manager gender only matters in low-stakes decisions that do not affect managers’ own career prospects. |
| Keywords: | gender wage and promotion gap, manager gender, favouritism, performance and potential ratings |
| JEL: | J30 J16 J71 M14 M51 M54 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_11622 |
| By: | Chiara Puccioni; Daniela Vuri |
| Abstract: | This study evaluates the impact of an Italian government initiative launched in 2007, which allocated €1 billion to regional governments to enhance early childhood care services for children aged 0-2, targeting both public and private childcare options. Exploiting variations in the timing of implementation across regions, we assess the program’s effectiveness in increasing the public provision of early childcare services and maternal labor market participation. Results show a significant increase in both public childcare slots and labor market participation among mothers. However, the initiative had limited effects on less-educated women, likely due to the service’s relatively high costs, which may hinder broader accessibility. |
| Keywords: | early childcare services, mothers’ labor supply, staggered difference-in-difference, dynamic estimates |
| JEL: | C21 C22 H52 H75 J13 J22 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_11656 |
| By: | Anne Ardila Brenøe; Zeynep Eyibak; Lea Heursen; Eva Ranehill; Roberto A. Weber |
| Abstract: | Economic research on gender gaps has focused on variation based on the binary classification of “men” and “women”. We explore whether a self-reported continuous measure of gender identity (CGI) explains variation in economic decisions and outcomes beyond the relationship with binary gender. We analyze data from four diverse populations (N=8, 018), including measures of economic preferences and educational and labor market outcomes. We find that CGI is significantly associated with economic outcomes, with stronger relationships for men than women. Our results indicate that incorporating measures of self-reported gender identity could enhance our understanding of gender gaps in economic behavior and outcomes. |
| Keywords: | gender identity, non-binary gender, economic preferences, economic outcomes |
| JEL: | C91 J16 J20 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_11612 |
| By: | Gabriel Burdin; Jose Garcia-Louzao |
| Abstract: | Using detailed administrative data from Spain, we characterize how a first work experience in an employee-owned firm (EOF) versus a conventional firm can affect workers’ careers. We find that workers’ exposure to EOFs at the time of entry reduces daily wages by 8% over the first 15 years in the labor market. The wage penalty appears to be driven by differences in job mobility and wage returns to experience rather than by non-random selection. We show that workers who had their first job in EOFs have a strong attachment to this organizational model and are less likely to experience both voluntary and involuntary job separations over their careers, with quit and layoff rates 8% and 4% lower, respectively. In addition, we quantify lower wage returns to experience in EOFs, although there are no differences in subsequent career progression in terms of promotions. Taken together, the analysis suggests the existence of other job amenities offered by EOFs that may compensate for flatter wage profiles. |
| Keywords: | employee-owned firms, careers, wages, job mobility |
| JEL: | J31 J50 J62 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_11632 |
| By: | F. Angei |
| Abstract: | This paper studies the under-reporting of workplace injuries in Italy, leveraging administrative data on work accidents. Using a difference-in-differences approach, I compare injury reporting behavior across provincial economic sectors exposed to the news of a fatal workplace accident with those not exposed, providing a causal estimate of the effect of the news. The analysis reveals that, in the weeks following such news, the weekly number of non-severe injuries reported per 100, 000 workers increases. This suggests that, under typical conditions, a substantial number of non-severe accidents remain unreported. Two mechanisms drive this pattern - media coverage, which likely puts pressure on both firms and workers to better comply with reporting standards, and a strong presence of workers' unions. In fact, a decomposition of the ATT shows that the effect is stronger in provinces with higher union membership. |
| Keywords: | Workplace Injuries;Reporting Behaviour;Fatal Workplace Accidents;Media Coverage;unions;Difference-in-differences |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cns:cnscwp:202503 |
| By: | Clochard Gwen-Jiro; Carlos Gomez-Gonzalez; Marco Henriques Pereira |
| Abstract: | Acquiring skilled workers can be a key comparative advantage for firms. However, this process involves much uncertainty that firms need to navigate. Leveraging managers' social networks can help reduce search frictions, improve match quality, and boost firm performance. In this paper, we investigate the role of managers’ networks on three dimensions of individual and organizational outcomes: hiring, responsibilities, and performance. We do so by leveraging the availability of rich transactional data in professional football (soccer) in Europe. Our data covers both men's and women's football, comprising over 6k coaches, 80k players, and 100k movements between teams. First, we find that managers rely heavily on their networks for hiring decisions, particularly for non-star workers, and network-based recruiting can be done more cheaply than external hiring. Second, managers give their network-hired workers more responsibilities by allowing them more game time, particularly in the first season. Third, we find that increasing the number of network-recruited workers is associated with significantly higher team performance. These patterns hold consistently across both men's and women's football. We discuss the generalizability of our results and implications for managers in other industries. |
| Date: | 2025–02 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:dpr:wpaper:1275 |
| By: | Sajayan, Gayatri |
| Abstract: | Until the passing of the 19th Amendment in 1919, voting rights for women in the US were not mandatory. Accordingly, many states refused women this privilege. However, the West appeared to be an exception, with all but one state in this region having granted female suffrage before federal enforcement. This paper seeks to understand the role of regional trends in female labour force participation in women’s enfranchisement, with a focus on the impact of occupational dispersion between 1880 - 1910. By exploring an avenue outside of religion and gender imbalances, an original contribution to existing literature on the success of Western women’s suffrage is provided. I utilise census data and governmental marital status statistics to conduct graphical analysis using cartography and complementary log-logistic regression analysis. The key finding of the paper is that women in Western states tended to be engaged in a narrow range of jobs – a consistent pattern found over the period of study. This helped them form a collective voice to fight for emancipation by facilitating mobilisation and more effective suffrage strategies. Hence, although the impact of women’s occupational dispersion is not found to be statistically significant, the relationship between the two variables is nevertheless historically meaningful. |
| JEL: | N31 J16 |
| Date: | 2025–02 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ehl:wpaper:127205 |
| By: | Sabrina Di Addario; Michela Giorcelli; Agata Maida |
| Abstract: | The share of female inventors remains significantly lower than that of men in both developed and developing countries. This paper studies gender bias in patenting activity, using a unique dataset that matches Italian administrative employer-employee records both to patent data from the European Patent Office (1987-2005) and to municipality-level information on medieval guilds from the Italian Central Archive of State. We empirically verify whether women’s low propensity to patent can be explained by the historical local conception of women’s role in society, which we measure with the share of women in guild founders from the Middle Ages. The results indicate that the presence of women in Medieval guilds is associated with a higher probability of observing a female inventor and a higher number of yearly patent submissions by women. |
| Keywords: | patents, women, inventors, guilds |
| JEL: | J60 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_11649 |
| By: | Pierre-AndrŽ Chiappori (Columbia University); Yoko Okuyama (Uppsala University); Costas Meghir (Yale University) |
| Abstract: | In this paper we develop a novel approach to measuring individual welfare within households, recognizing that individuals may have both different preferences (particularly regarding public consumption) and differential access to resources. We construct a money metric measure of welfare that accounts for public goods (by using personalized prices) and the allocation of time. We then use our conceptual framework to analyse intrahousehold inequality in Japan, allowing for the presence of two public goods: expenditures on children and other public goods including housing. We show empirically that women have much stronger preferences for both public goods and this has critical implications for the distribution of welfare in the household. |
| Date: | 2025–02 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cwl:cwldpp:2395r1 |
| By: | David L. Fuller; Guillaume Vandenbroucke |
| Abstract: | We present a novel theory of intergenerational persistence in college attainment that does not rely on credit constraints, parental transfers and investments, or persistence in innate ability. The gist of our theory is heterogeneity in time preferences, which are endogenous since parents can teach patience to their children before the children make their college decisions. We show, analytically, that the most patient parents are simultaneously more likely to have a college degree and to educate their children to be patient. Persistence follows. We also show that persistence occurs if and only if there is persistence in patience. So, our model rationalizes the view that long-run family factors matter for educational attainment. We embed our theory in a general equilibrium model which we calibrate to U.S. data. The model matches both college persistence and cross sectional inequality moments. We implement a policy experiment in which a college subsidy is financed via a proportional tax on labor income. The policy distorts intertemporal trade-offs and, hence, affects people differently depending on their patience. We find that the policy raises overall college attainment (individuals earn a BA) and its persistence. Specifically, it raises the likelihood of attaining a BA for individuals whose parents have a BA and it lowers that likelihood for individuals whose parents do not have a BA. This result differs from that of the existing literature where college subsidies alleviate borrowing constraints and tend to reduce intergenerational persistence. |
| Keywords: | endogenous preferences; intergenerational persistence; inequality; college choice |
| JEL: | E6 I2 J62 |
| Date: | 2025–02–03 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fedlwp:99496 |
| By: | Carlo Lombardo; Leonardo Peñaloza-Pacheco |
| Abstract: | We examine firm-level upgrading in Colombian manufacturing firms as a result of a high-skilled labor supply shock triggered by the Venezuelan exodus. Using a unique and confidential dataset from 2013 to 2019 and a shift-share instrumental variables approach, we find that the increased supply of skilled workers primarily drove high-skill hires, especially in R&D divisions. This skill-upgrading process boosted investments in R&D activities. Improved access to higher-quality inputs led to better production and organizational processes, product enhancements, and an increased likelihood of obtaining quality certifications, which serve as a straightforward objective measure of firm-level upgrading. Collectively, these changes were crucial for firms to increase their exports at both the extensive and intensive margins. This effect was driven by a rise in differentiated product exports, allowing firms to enter new and more sophisticated markets, particularly in high- and upper-middle-income countries. |
| Keywords: | firm-level upgrading, migration, trade, development |
| JEL: | D22 D24 F22 F14 F16 J61 L16 O14 O31 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_11645 |
| By: | Alessandra Fogli; Veronica Guerrieri; Mark Ponder; Marta Prato |
| Abstract: | Since the 1980s, the US has experienced not only a steady increase in income inequality, but also a contemporaneous rise in residential segregation by income. What is the relationship between inequality and residential segregation? How does it affect intergenerational mobility? We first document a positive correlation between inequality and segregation, both over time and across metro areas. We then develop a general equilibrium model where parents choose the neighborhood where they raise their children and invest in their children’s education. In the model, segregation and inequality amplify each other because of a local spillover that affects the return to education. We calibrate the model to a representative US metro in 1980 and use the micro estimates of neighborhood exposure effects in Chetty and Hendren (2018b) to discipline the strength of the local spillover. We first use the calibrated version of the model to explore the economy’s response to an unexpected skill premium shock. We find that segregation dynamics played a significant role in amplifying the increase in inequality and in dampening intergenerational mobility. We then use the model to explore the effects of policies designed to move poor families to better neighborhoods, like the Moving To Opportunity (MTO) program. We show that scaling up MTO policies induces general equilibrium effects that limit their efficacy. |
| Date: | 2025–01–31 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fedmoi:99487 |
| By: | Liqui-Lung, C. |
| Abstract: | Diversity is a widely pursued objective, yet current approaches often fall short or even backfire. This paper argues that treating the underrepresentation of groups such as women and ethnic minorities as separate issues oversimplifies the problem. I formally analyze how multi-dimensional social identities and social context interact to shape confidence and participation decisions. I show how “optimal social identification" allows agents to flexibly interpret social data to improve decision-making outcomes. However, different options to use this tool can create persistent disparities in task participation and outcomes. The framework enables a general equilibrium analysis of the interaction between social context, social identification, and task allocation. I show how one-dimensional policies, such as those focused solely on gender, neglect externalities and within-trait differences, and can have negative welfare effects. Instead, I advocate for multidimensional quotas with informational policies that nudge individuals to consider alternative traits and statistics. These interventions balance individual benefits with aggregate welfare concerns, reducing disparities while empowering individuals to reach their full potential. |
| Keywords: | Bounded Rationality, Social Identity, Choice Behavior, Diversity |
| JEL: | D81 D91 Z13 |
| Date: | 2025–01–22 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cam:camdae:2502 |
| By: | Gustavo de Souza; Haishi Li |
| Abstract: | How do import tariffs affect employment? We develop an empirical strategy to identify the effects of tariffs using difference-in-differences, comparing anti-dumping (AD) investigations resulting in dumping tariffs to those not resulting in dumping tariffs. We find that an AD tariff decreases imports and increases employment in the protected sector. Moreover, downstream firms decrease employment, while upstream ones are unaffected because the protected sector sources inputs abroad. Using a model to quantify the aggregate effects, we find that the Brazilian AD policy increased employment by 0.06% at a welfare loss of 2.4%. |
| Keywords: | employment, tariffs, anti-dumping, international trade |
| JEL: | F13 F16 |
| Date: | 2025 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ces:ceswps:_11654 |
| By: | Emma Aguila; Raquel Fonseca |
| Abstract: | This study explores how basic income for elderly (non-contributory pension program) affects the health of self-employed and salaried workers differently, which is particularly interesting given the greater social protection and lower income volatility of the latter. The study uses a cluster-randomized controlled trial that provides supplemental incomes to adults aged 70 or older in two towns in Yucatan, Mexico, and compares the effects of supplemental income over two waves for Valladolid (where eligible individuals received a monthly income supplement throughout the analysis period) and Motul (a demographically matched control town). The results indicate that self-employed workers experience a decrease in anemia, an improvement in peak expiratory flow, and better health care use and well-being. In contrast, salaried workers' health outcomes show no significant effect from the program. The program improves food availability for both selfemployed and salaried workers, but its impact on food availability is stronger for self-employed workers. |
| Keywords: | supplemental income, elderly, Mexico, health, lifetime occupation. |
| JEL: | I32 I14 J14 |
| Date: | 2024 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:rsi:creeic:2403 |
| By: | Costa, Dora; Bygren, Lars Olov; Graf, Benedikt; Karlsson, Martin; Price, Joseph |
| Abstract: | Explanations for the West’s escape from premature mortality have focused on chronic malnutrition or income and on public health or state capacity. We argue that by ignoring the multigenerational effects of variance in ancestors’ harvests, we are underestimating the contribution of modern economic growth to the escape from early death at older ages. Using a newly constructed multigenerational dataset for Sweden, we show that grandsons’ longevity was strongly linked to spatial shocks in paternal grandfathers’ yearly harvest variability when agricultural productivity was low and market integration was limited. We reason that an epigenetic mechanism is the most plausible explanation for our findings. We posit that the removal of trade barriers, improvements in transportation, and agricultural innovation reduced harvest variability. We contend that for older Swedish men (but not women) born 1830-1909 this reduction was as important as decreasing contemporaneous infectious disease rates and more important than eliminating exposure to poor harvests in-utero. |
| Keywords: | JEL classification: I15, J11, N33 |
| Date: | 2025–01–22 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ajt:wcinch:82948 |