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on Gender |
| By: | Farré, Lídia (University of Barcelona); Ortega, Francesc (Queens College, CUNY) |
| Abstract: | We investigate whether competitive selection processes generate gender inequality in the context of a prestigious graduate fellowship program. All applications are scored remotely by expert reviewers and the highest ranked are invited to an in-person interview. The data show a very large gender gap in success rates: women's success rate is 36% lower than men's. About one third of this gap is due to the lower grades of female candidates, which is surprising given women's higher GPA in the population of college graduates. Adjusting for GPA and a rich set of fixed-effects, women's success rate remains 16% lower than for comparable male candidates. We show that this gap is explained by reviewers engaging in gender balancing. Namely, reviewers favor the minority gender in each field of study but, except for STEM, all fields are female-dominated. Our simulations show that the interview plays an important role, but the quantitative scoring has a more profound effect on the award allocation. Merging administrative records on the population of graduates from a large university, we document an important gender gap in participation. We find that high-GPA female graduates are much less likely to apply to the fellowship program. The combination of the gender gaps in participation and success in the program imply that high-GPA female graduates are almost 50% less likely to obtain a fellowship than their male counterparts. |
| Keywords: | glass ceiling, gender, education |
| JEL: | J3 J7 |
| Date: | 2019–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp12530&r=all |
| By: | Ascensión Andina-Díaz (Department of Economics, University of Málaga); Paula Penalva-Planelles; M. Socorro Puy (Department of Economics, University of Málaga) |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes how the preferences of political representatives for social spending differ across gender groups, and what the effects of gender differences are for the equilibrium policies. We use a unique survey data from the CIS in Spain, comprising a sample of 350 male and 230 female political representatives of national chambers (Congress and Senate) and regional parliaments. Our findings suggest that, in general, female representatives have a stronger preference for social spending than male representatives. Interestingly, these gender differences arise within members of the right-wing party (of PP), whereas left-wing representatives (of PSOE) males and females, are more homogenous. In a comparison between national versus regional representatives, we find that within representatives of national chambers, women over men show on average, an additional probability of 25 percent points of self-reporting preferences for additional spending in education and pensions. However, within representative members of regional parliaments, gender differences in preferences are not statistically significant. We also provide a theoretical model, which serves us to understand the effects of gender party composition on the equilibrium policies. Our model reveals that gender quotas benefit right-wing parties. Intuitively, women provide moderation to rightist parties, which in turn produces electoral advantage. |
| Keywords: | Gender differences; preferences for social spending; gender quotas; Downsian electoral competition |
| JEL: | D72 H75 J16 |
| Date: | 2019–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mal:wpaper:2019-2&r=all |
| By: | Brown, Ryan (University of Colorado Denver); Mansour, Hani (University of Colorado Denver); O'Connell, Stephen D. (Massachusetts Institute of Technology); Reeves, James (University of Michigan) |
| Abstract: | This paper establishes the presence of a substantial gender gap in the relationship between state legislature service and the subsequent pursuit of a Congressional career. The empirical approach uses a sample of mixed-gender elections to compare the differential political career progression of women who closely win versus closely lose a state legislature election relative to an analogous impact for men who closely win or lose a state legislature election. We find that the effect of serving a state legislative term on the likelihood of running for a Congressional seat is twice as large for men as women, and its effect on winning a Congressional race is five times larger for men than women. These gaps emerge early in legislators' careers, widen over time, and are seen alongside a higher propensity for female state legislators to recontest state legislature seats. This gender gap in advancing to Congress among state legislators is not generated by gender differences in previously accumulated political experience, political party affiliation, or constituency characteristics. After investigating several explanations, we conclude that the gender gap in political career progression is consistent with the existence of a glass ceiling in politics. |
| Keywords: | elections, discrimination, politicians, gender gap |
| JEL: | J16 J24 D72 J71 |
| Date: | 2019–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp12569&r=all |
| By: | Adem Elveren (Fitchburg State University); Valentine M. Moghadam (Northeastern University) |
| Abstract: | Feminist research has revealed significant relationships between militarization, patriarchy, and gender inequality. This paper takes that research forward through an empirical analysis of the impact of militarization on gender inequality and on women’s participation in the labor market. Using the Gender Inequality Index and the Global Militarization Index for the period of 1990-2017 for 133 countries, the paper shows that higher militarization is significantly correlated with higher gender inequality and lower level of female labor force participation rate, controlling for major variables such as conflict, democracy level, regime type, fertility rate, and urbanization rate. The results are significant in the case of Islam and MENA countries, and with respect to countries with different income levels. |
| Date: | 2019–08–21 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:erg:wpaper:1307&r=all |
| By: | Reitmann, Ann-Kristin (University of Passau); Goedhuys, Micheline (UNU-MERIT); Grimm, Michael (University of Passau, IZA and RWI); Nillesen, Eleonora E.M. (UNU-MERIT, Maastricht University) |
| Abstract: | Eliciting attitudes on sensitive topics such as women empowerment is subject to a wide range of measurement challenges such as social desirability bias and refusals. Even subtle changes in wording or context can profoundly affect how respondents answer to a question. Using data from two randomised experiments built into a nationwide representative household survey in Tunisia, we analyse the effects of (i) framing and (ii) priming on attitudes towards gender equality and domestic violence in the Arab context. Moreover, we look at impact heterogeneity with respect to the interviewers' gender and perceived religiosity. Our first experiment shows that questions on attitudes towards decision-making power invite stronger responses towards gender inequality when framed in an inequality frame. In our second experiment we find that attitudes towards domestic violence are susceptible to an audio primer. Oral statistical information about the incidence of domestic violence in Tunisia leads to lower support for domestic violence among the male subsample but has no effect on women. Lastly, impacts co-vary with interviewer characteristics. While female interviewers seem to trigger less justification for domestic violence on average, we find the opposite effect for female interviewers wearing a hijab, arguably signalling stronger perceived religiosity and social norms aligned with (more) tolerance of domestic violence. We discuss the implications of our findings for development research on gender attitudes and behaviour in gender-sensitive contexts. |
| Keywords: | gender equality, domestic violence, framing, priming, interviewer effects, survey experiment, MENA region |
| JEL: | C83 C99 D91 O12 |
| Date: | 2019–08–28 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unm:unumer:2019027&r=all |
| By: | Huber, Martin; Solovyeva, Anna |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the sensitivity of average wage gap decompositions to methods resting on different assumptions regarding endogeneity of observed characteristics, sample selection into employment, and estimators’functional form. Applying five distinct decomposition techniques to estimate the gender wage gap in the U.S. using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979, we find that the magnitudes of the wage gap components are generally not stable across methods. Furthermore, the definition of the observed characteristics matters: merely including their levels (as frequently seen in wage decompositions) entails smaller explained and larger unexplained components than when including both their levels and histories in the analysis. Given the sensitivity of our results, we advise caution when using wage decompositions for policy recommendations. |
| Keywords: | Wage decomposition; gender wage gap; causal mechanisms; mediation |
| JEL: | C14 C21 J31 J71 |
| Date: | 2018–10–22 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fri:fribow:fribow00497&r=all |
| By: | Lara Minkus |
| Abstract: | The gender pay gap (GPG) remains a persistent phenomenon in contemporary labor markets. Despite a vast body of research examining its causes, as of today, unequal labor market power resources between men and women have remained an underappreciated factor in the literature. Drawing on the German Socio-economic Panel and the Microcensus, the association between the GPG and labor market closure – a crucial determinant of unequal power resources in labor markets – is followed from 1993-2011. Employing JMP decomposition, unionization, tertiary credentialing and part-time employment are found to exacerbate the overall wage differential by 41 percent. Part-time employment has been the only indictor that enlarged the gender pay gap (17 percent) between 1993 and 2011, while the remaining covariates contributed toward its convergence. These results advance our understanding of stalling GPGs by highlighting the so far widely neglected importance of power resources on the GPG. |
| Keywords: | gender pay gap; labor market closure; stalled gender revolution; JMP decomposition; dualism |
| JEL: | J2 J5 L1 |
| Date: | 2019 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:diw:diwsop:diw_sp1049&r=all |
| By: | Yamamura, Eiji (Seinan Gakuin University); Powdthavee, Nattavudh (University of Warwick) |
| Abstract: | What determines human beings' decisions to donate money to a charity? Using a nationally representative survey of the Japanese population, we demonstrate that having been taught by a female teacher in their first year of school makes individuals more likely to donate to charities following natural disasters. The findings are robust in controlling for lessons on prosocial behaviors, such as group learning. We tested our results separately for men and women, as well as on prosocial attitude outcomes. Overall, our results suggest potential prosocial implications may arise from teacher-student gender matching. |
| Keywords: | charitable giving, gender, prosocial, Japan, natural disaster, donation |
| JEL: | D64 I20 |
| Date: | 2019–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp12528&r=all |