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on Gender |
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Issue of 2024–12–23
five papers chosen by Jan Sauermann, Institutet för Arbetsmarknads- och Utbildningspolitisk Utvärdering |
| By: | Bosworth, Steven J. (University of Reading); Della Giusta, Marina (University of Turin) |
| Abstract: | What explains the persistent under-representation of women at the top organizations within high status occupations? The phenomenon has been documented across countries and neither the closing and reversal of education gaps nor family policies appear effective in closing the gaps. We offer an explanation for the persistence of under-representation based on the mutually reinforcing dynamics resulting from returns to organizational prestige at top organizations (The Matthew Effect) and gender stereotypes in hiring arising from the imperfectly observable ability of workers (The Larry Effect). Our model predicts that when organizational prestige is important and complementary to ability in production, fewer women will be found and hired at higher status organizations, there will be a wage premium for both women and men when they move to them but a greater proportion of men will succeed in doing so, regardless of ability. An aggregate level gender wage gap is thus generated from between-organization wage differences and segregation of women and men to lower- and higher-status organizations respectively. We test the predictions of the model in academia where recognized measures of prestige exist and Matthew effects are well documented. We make use of an employer-employee administrative panel comprising the universe of UK academics and find evidence consistent with the model's predictions: persistence of women's under-representation in higher status organizations and a wage premium for moving of about 3 percent for both women and men. |
| Keywords: | prestige, stereotypes, discrimination |
| JEL: | C78 J31 J70 |
| Date: | 2024–11 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp17460 |
| By: | RAMACHANDRA, VARUN KAREKURVE |
| Abstract: | This paper uses the staggered implementation of gender quota policy in India to understand whether women who won office due to quotas go on to win higher-level office. Indian local government elections impose mandatory gender quotas, but state elections do not. This provides a setting to assess if there is an increase in women's representation at higher levels of governance due to quotas at the local level. The identification strategy allows me to ascribe an increase of three percentage points in the share of women at the state-level to gender quotas in local government. Additionally, to establish upward political mobility of local-level leaders I tracked political biographies of over 1000 women legislators across India's 15 major state assemblies. In doing so, I identify that political dynasties, and ground-level leadership --- those who entered politics due to mandatory gender quotas --- are the two primary channels that enable entry of women into state-level politics. Further, I show that the effect of democratic entry of women into politics via quotas is pronounced in states with parties that are reliant on empowered rank and file members. Overall, these results highlight the importance of gender quotas as a democratic state-building tool and provide evidence for career advancement of women in politics whose democratic entry into politics was facilitated by the implementation of mandatory gender quotas. |
| Date: | 2024–11–22 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:socarx:4zqve |
| By: | Gould, Eric D. (Hebrew University, Jerusalem); Lichtinger, Guy (Harvard University) |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes how the "child penalty" associated with career interruptions for women after becoming a mother is influenced by preferences absorbed during childhood, and how the child penalty, in turn, is related to the quantity and quality (education) of her own children. Using linked administrative data on Israeli parents and children, the analysis shows that mothers who grew up in larger and more traditional families marry men from larger families, and together they have more children. Growing up with more siblings is also associated with a larger child penalty for a mother in earnings and employment, as well as in terms of commuting less and moving to "mother friendly" firms at the expense of higher wage firms. The results also indicate that the child penalty produces two opposing effects on child human capital – a negative impact due to the loss of parental income, and a positive influence of increased maternal time away from work. Overall, the evidence suggests that the family preferences and norms absorbed during childhood significantly influence a woman's choices of spouse, fertility, and child penalty later in life – but with little overall impact on her children's high school achievements. |
| Keywords: | child penalties, child outcomes, family culture |
| JEL: | J12 J13 J16 J22 J24 J31 J62 |
| Date: | 2024–11 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp17455 |
| By: | Pina-Sánchez, Jose (University of Leeds); Hamilton, Melissa; Tennant, Peter WG |
| Abstract: | To minimise confounding bias and facilitate the identification of unwarranted disparities, sentencing researchers have traditionally sought to control for as many legal factors as possible. In this article we challenge such approach. Using causal graphs we show how controlling for commonly used variables in the sentencing literature can introduce bias. Instead, we propose a new modelling framework that clarifies which types of controls are necessary to identify different definitions of sentencing disparities. We apply this framework to the estimation of race disparities in the US federal courts and gender disparities in the England and Wales magistrates’ court. We find that the model uncertainty associated to the choice of controls is substantial for gender disparities and for race disparities affecting Hispanic offenders, rendering estimates of the latter inconclusive. Disparities against black offenders are more consistent, although, they are not strong enough to be seen as definitive evidence of racial discrimination. |
| Date: | 2024–11–17 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:osf:socarx:ymzsv |
| By: | Lidia Cano Pecharroman; Melissa O. Tier; Elke U. Weber |
| Abstract: | Efforts are needed to identify and measure both communities' exposure to climate hazards and the social vulnerabilities that interact with these hazards, but the science of validating hazard vulnerability indicators is still in its infancy. Progress is needed to improve: 1) the selection of variables that are used as proxies to represent hazard vulnerability; 2) the applicability and scale for which these indicators are intended, including their transnational applicability. We administered an international urban survey in Buenos Aires, Argentina; Johannesburg, South Africa; London, United Kingdom; New York City, United States; and Seoul, South Korea in order to collect data on exposure to various types of extreme weather events, socioeconomic characteristics commonly used as proxies for vulnerability (i.e., income, education level, gender, and age), and additional characteristics not often included in existing composite indices (i.e., queer identity, disability identity, non-dominant primary language, and self-perceptions of both discrimination and vulnerability to flood risk). We then use feature importance analysis with gradient-boosted decision trees to measure the importance that these variables have in predicting exposure to various types of extreme weather events. Our results show that non-traditional variables were more relevant to self-reported exposure to extreme weather events than traditionally employed variables such as income or age. Furthermore, differences in variable relevance across different types of hazards and across urban contexts suggest that vulnerability indicators need to be fit to context and should not be used in a one-size-fits-all fashion. |
| Date: | 2024–11 |
| URL: | https://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:arx:papers:2411.10628 |