The most prominent feature of the female labor force across the past hundred years is its enormous growth. But many believe that the increase was discontinuous. Our purpose is to identify the short- ...and long-run impacts of WWII on the labor supply of women who were currently married in 1950 and 1960. Using WWII mobilization rates by state, we find a wartime impact on weeks worked and the labor force participation of married white (non-farm) women in both 1950 and 1960. The impact, moreover, was experienced almost entirely by women in the top half of the education distribution. PUBLICATION ABSTRACT
The labor force participation rate in the United States increased almost continuously for two-and-a-half decades after the mid-1960s, pausing only briefly during economic downturns. The pace of ...growth slowed considerably during the 1990s, however, and after reaching a record high of 67.3 percent in the first quarter of 2000, participation had declined by 1.5 percentage points by 2005. This paper reviews the social and demographic trends that contributed to the movements in the labor force participation rate in the second half of the twentieth century. It also examines the manner in which developments in the 2000s reflect a break from past trends and considers implications for the future.
Recent work in gender economics has identified trade as a potential determinant of female labor force participation (FLFP). It is usually suggested that FLFP rises whenever trade expands those ...sectors which use female labor intensively. This paper develops a theoretical model to argue that, quite surprisingly, the opposite effects can occur. Distinguishing between female intensive sectors (FIS) and male intensive sectors (MIS), we show that FLFP may actually fall if trade expands FIS. When FIS are capital intensive, trade integration of a capital-abundant economy expands FIS and contracts MIS. Consequently, male workers migrate from MIS to FIS, diluting the capital–labor ratio in the FIS. Under a high complementarity between capital and female labor, the marginal productivity of women drops more than that of men. Thus, the gender wage gap widens and FLFP falls. Employment patterns in the U.S. following NAFTA are broadly consistent with our theory.
•We model how international trade may affect female labor force participation.•When trading with a poor economy, a rich economy expands female intensive sectors.•The gender wage gap may widen and thus female labor force participation falls.•We examine the impact of NAFTA on U.S. labor markets.•Due to NAFTA, U.S. gender wage gap rose and its female labor declined.
Has there been an increase in positive assortative mating? Does assortative mating contribute to household income inequality? Data from the United States Census Bureau suggests there has been a rise ...in assortative mating. Additionally, assortative mating affects household income inequality. In particular, if matching in 2005 between husbands and wives had been random, instead of the pattern observed in the data, then the Gini coefficient would have fallen from the observed 0.43 to 0.34, so that income inequality would be smaller. Thus, assortative mating is important for income inequality. The high level of married female labor-force participation in 2005 is important for this result.
Using comprehensive data for German establishments, we estimate plant-level production functions to analyze if “cultural diversity” affects total factor productivity. We distinguish diversity in the ...establishment's workforce (the micro level) and in the aggregate labor force of the region where the plant is located (the macro level). We find that a larger share of foreign workers — either in the establishment or in the region — does not affect productivity. However, there are spillovers associated with the degree of fractionalization of the group of foreigners into different nationalities. Regional diversity is at least as important for productivity as micro-level diversity.
•Cultural diversity positively affects total factor productivity at the plant level.•Diversity is measured at the establishment and the aggregate local level.•We distinguish size and fractionalization of the group of foreigners.•Group size does not matter, fractionalization into different nationalities does.•Aggregate level is at least as important as micro level impacts of diversity.
We show that close geographical proximity to mothers or mothers-in-law has a substantial positive effect on the labor supply of married women with young children. We argue that the mechanism through ...which proximity increases labor supply is the availability of childcare. We interpret availability broadly enough to include not only regular scheduled childcare during work hours but also an insurance aspect of proximity (e.g., a mother or mother-in-law who can to provide irregular or unanticipated childcare). Using two large datasets, the National Survey of Families and Households and the public use files of the U.S. Census, we find that the predicted probability of employment and labor force participation is 4–10 percentage points higher for married women with young children living in close proximity to their mothers or their mothers-in-law compared with those living further away.
We investigate the relationship between female labour force participation and economic growth in the South Mediterranean countries with a two-step methodology of econometric exercise and general ...equilibrium modelling. Econometric estimations on female labour participation confirm the U-shaped function and the presence of region-specific barriers. Estimations have been employed in a satellite manner to a general equilibrium model for the simulation of (i) changes in female labour force participation as a result of income developments and (ii) lowering of region-specific barriers to female labour force participation. The results suggest that while the first may lead to marginally lower economic growth, the second may have a considerable positive impact on growth.
•We study female labour participation and economic growth in the South Mediterranean.•A two-step approach of econometric and general equilibrium modelling is employed.•Econometric estimations confirm the U-shaped female labour force function.•Higher female labour force participation rates have a positive impact on growth.
Unemployment Insurance benefit durations were extended during the Great Recession, reaching 99 weeks for most recipients. The extensions were rolled back and eventually terminated by the end of 2013. ...Using matched CPS data from 2008-2014, we estimate the effect of extended benefits on unemployment exits separately during the earlier period of benefit expansion and the later period of rollback. In both periods, we find little or no effect on job-finding but a reduction in labor force exits due to benefit availability. We estimate that the rollbacks reduced the labor force participation rate by about 0.1 percentage point in early 2014.
WHAT IS THE CASE FOR PAID MATERNITY LEAVE? Dahl, Gordon B.; Løken, Katrine V.; Mogstad, Magne ...
The review of economics and statistics,
10/2016, Letnik:
98, Številka:
4
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
We assess the case for generous government-funded maternity leave, focusing on a series of policy reforms in Norway that expanded paid leave from 18 to 35 weeks. We find the reforms do not crowd out ...unpaid leave and that mothers spend more time at home without a reduction in family income. The increased maternity leave has little effect on children's schooling, parental earnings and labor force participation, completed fertility, marriage, or divorce. The expansions, whose net costs amounted to 0.25% of GDP, have negative redistribution properties and imply a considerable increases in taxes at a cost to economic efficiency.
Although women's representation among international migrants in many countries has risen over the last 100 years, we know far less about gender gaps in the labor force participation of immigrants ...across a wide span of host societies. Prior studies have established that immigrant women are doubly disadvantaged in terms of labor market outcomes in the U.S., Canada, and Israel. These studies suggest an intriguing question: Are there gender gaps in immigrant labor force participation across destinations countries? In this paper, we investigate the extent to which the double disadvantage exists for immigrant women in a variety of host countries. We also examine how marriage moderates this double disadvantage. For the U.S., although we find that immigrant women have had the lowest labor force participation rates compared to natives and immigrant men since 1960, marital status is an important stratifying attribute that helps explain nativity differences. Extending the analysis to eight other countries reveals strong gender differences in labor force participation and shows how marriage differentiates immigrant women's labor force entry more so than men's.
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