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Bertrand, Marianne

Article Economic consequences of gender identity

NBER Reporter

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Suggested Citation: Bertrand, Marianne (2014) : Economic consequences of gender identity, NBER Reporter, National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), Cambridge, MA, Iss. 2, pp. 14-17

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Economic Consequences of Gender Identity

Marianne Bertrand*

An increasingly discussed explana- economics insights from social psychol- actions can in part be explained by a tion for why women and men experience ogy regarding an individual’s social iden- desire to conform with their sense of self. different labor markets is the existence tity and how it can influence behaviors Akerlof and Kranton apply their model and persistence of gender identity norms. and choices. These researchers define iden- to the concept of gender identity. In this Influential research by George Akerlof tity as one’s sense of belonging to one or case, the two relevant social categories are and Rachel Kranton1 has imported into multiple social categories. One’s identity those of “man” and “woman,” and these encompasses a clear view about how peo- two categories are associated with spe- * Bertrand is a Research Associate in ple who belong to that category should cific behavioral prescriptions which, if the NBER’s Programs on Corporate Finance, , and behave. In their model, identity directly violated, will decrease utility. Labor Studies, and the Chris P. Dialynas enters the utility function: identity influ- Gender identity norms may help to Distinguished Service Professor of Economics ences economic outcomes because devi- explain why occupational segregation at the University of Chicago’s Booth School ating from the behavior that is expected by gender has been slow to disappear. of Business. Her profile appears later in this for one’s social category is assumed to Women may feel discomfort entering cer- issue. decrease utility. Hence, people’s economic tain professions, and men may feel dis-

14 NBER Reporter • 2014 Number 2

comfort if women enter these professions if the professions are strongly “gendered” .08 (for example, only men, not women, are bankers). This is related to ’s pollution theory of discrimina- .06 tion,2 which also assumes that men derive utility from their work not just because of the wage they earn but also because of how their image is affected by where .04

they work and with whom they work. raction of Couples

In Goldin’s model, men want to keep F women away from certain jobs because .02 broad female participation in those jobs would reduce the prestige men obtain 0 .2 .4 .6 .8 1 from working in them. The reduction in prestige in Goldin’s case is driven by the Share Earned by the Wife signals that might be sent to outsiders about the qualifications required to per- Figure 1: Distribution of Relative Income within Couples form these jobs if too many women enter them. In other words, Goldin’s model with more and more women disagree- than for fathers could be seen as another is closer to a statistical discrimination ing with the notion that husbands should manifestation of gender identity norms model while Akerlof and Kranton’s is be the breadwinners and wives should (for example, “a working mom cannot more directly reminiscent of a taste-based be the homemakers, and more egalitar- have a warm relationship with her child”) discrimination model. ian, with more and more women agreeing that have not fully adjusted to improving Another application is women’s labor with the notion that they are as capable educational and labor market opportuni- force participation. As long as there is a as men in the workforce, until the mid- ties for women. strong behavioral prescription indicating 1990s when these trends reversed. Raquel Another behavioral prescription that “men work in the labor force and Fernandez and Alessandra Fogli study often associated with gender identity is women work in the home,” gender iden- the labor force participation of second- that “a man should earn more than his tity norms could explain why women generation American women.6 They use wife.” With Emir Kamenica and Jessica have been slow to increase their labor past values of female labor force partici- Pan, I explore the possible manifestations force participation. Nicole Fortin uses pation in these women’s country of ances- of this gender identity norm in patterns of data from the World Values Surveys to try as cultural proxies for gender identity relative income within households, mar- assess how women’s sense of self relates to norms. Controlling for individual and riage formation, wives’ labor force par- their labor force participation in a sample spousal socioeconomic backgrounds, they ticipation, marital satisfaction, and the of OECD countries.3 She shows that the find that American women whose ances- division of home production. 8 Using U.S. social representation of women as home- try is from higher labor force participa- administrative data on individual income, makers and men as breadwinners appears tion countries work more. Spousal culture we show that the distribution of rela- quite predictive of women’s labor force also appears to matter in explaining the tive income within couples (wife income/ participation across countries. Fortin re- labor force participation of these women. (wife income + husband income)) exhib- examines a similar question in a single Motherhood has been shown to be its a sharp drop to the right of .5, for country, the United States, over a longer particularly disruptive to women’s labor example, when a wife starts to earn more time period (1977 to 2006).4 A more cen- force participation and earnings. With than her husband. This is shown in Figure tral motivation in this particular paper is Lawrence Katz and Goldin, I demon- 1, above. to provide an explanation for the slow- strate that much of the large gender gap In U.S. Census data, we also show down in the closing of the gender gap in that emerges over time between male and that within a marriage market over time, labor force participation in the United female graduates of top MBA programs is when a randomly chosen woman becomes States since the mid-1990s (see for exam- attributable to gender differences in hours more likely to earn more than a ran- ple Francine Blau and Lawrence Kahn5). worked and frequency of career interrup- domly chosen man, the marriage rate Fortin shows that the evolution of gender tions; the presence of children is the main declines (see also Tara Watson and Sara role attitudes over time appears to map contributor to women’s shorter work McLanahan9). Looking within couples, well with the evolution of female labor hours and greater career discontinuity.7 we show that when the probability that force participation. Women’s gender role The fact that work-family balance con- the wife’s potential income exceeds her attitudes steadily became less traditional, siderations are more binding for mothers husband’s actual income is higher, the

NBER Reporter • 2014 Number 2 15 wife is less likely to participate in the floor. While the study uncovers some rich likely to have working wives. This finding labor force. We also provide suggestive patterns with respect to racial identity, suggests a virtuous cycle: with more of evidence that this specific gender identity making gender salient appears to have these “new” men around, women should norm might influence the quality of mar- no significant effects on either men’s or rationally invest more in labor market riage, with couples where the wife earns women’s patience, or their level of risk skills and thereby expose their sons to this more than the husband reporting being aversion. Of course, it is possible that the less traditional family structure. less happy. Finally, using the American experimental priming was too weak to Olivetti, Eleonora Patacchini, and Time Use Surveys, we show that the gen- temporarily affect preferences. Yves Zenou explore how the work behav- der gap in home production, how much Assuming that the gender identity ior of a teenager’s own mother, as well more time the wife spends on non-market model is relevant to women’s labor market as that of her friends’ mothers, affect work than the husband, is larger in cou- outcomes, one is left with the question of the work decisions of that teenager once ples where the wife earns more than the what drives the strength of gender identity she becomes an adult.16 They find that husband, a finding that runs counter to norms. In an identity model, the changes both intergenerational channels positively standard models of the division of labor in women’s labor market outcomes over affect a woman’s work hours in adult- within the household. the last decades could only have occurred hood, but the cross effect is negative, indi- One could also ask whether gender in conjunction with deep societal changes cating the existence of cultural substitut- identity norms are responsible for gen- in the strength and meaning of the male ability. That is, the mother’s role model der differences in psychological attributes, and female social categories. Innovations effect is larger the more distant she is (in such as attitudes toward risk, negotia- in contraception may have contributed terms of working hours) from the friends’ tion, and competition, which have been to altering women’s identity in the 1960s mothers. related to differences in career choices and 1970s. As Goldin and Katz show, the While the literature discussed above and earnings between men and women10 introduction of the birth control pill led suggests the malleability of gender iden- and might contribute to women’s under- to both an increase in women’s invest- tity norms over rather short horizons representation at the very top of the cor- ment in schooling and an increase in (one generation), other work suggests porate hierarchy.11 Psychologists have the age at first marriage.13 This, Goldin stickiness of these norms in the longer shown that people expect women to be argues, meant that women’s adult iden- term. Alberto Alesina, Paola Giuliano, docile and men to be confident and self- tities were less influenced by traditional and Nathan Nunn show that ethnicities assertive. Some have argued that a higher gender roles, as these identities were now and countries where ancestors practiced degree of risk aversion is viewed as the more likely to be formed before marriage plough cultivation, which required more norm for females while part of the male and more influenced by career consider- physical strength than shifting cultivation identity is to be a risk-taker. These expecta- ations. 14 and hence was less suited to female labor, tions could be part of socially constructed Other papers have discussed the today have beliefs that exhibit greater gender norms, rather than a reflection on influence of nurturing in the formation gender inequality as well as lower rates of innate differences; behaving according to of gender identities. Many believe that female labor force participation. 17 They these expectations may reflect a willing- gender role attitudes are largely deter- identify the causal impact of plough cul- ness to conform to what is expected from mined in early childhood, and several tivation use by exploiting variation in the one’s social category. papers have documented something akin historical geo-climatic suitability of the In a laboratory setting, Daniel to an intergenerational transmission of environment for growing crops that dif- Benjamin, James Choi, and A. Joshua gender identity norms. Fernandez, Fogli, ferentially benefited from the adoption of Strickland study how making salient a and Claudia Olivetti15 provide an expla- the plough. specific aspect of one’s gender or racial nation for why men may differ in how identity affects a subject’s likelihood of traditional their views are with respect to making riskier choices or more patient whether women belong at home or in the 1 G. A. Akerlof and R. E. Kranton, choices. 12 The study consists of generating workplace. They argue that a significant “Economics and Identity,” Quarterly exogenous variation in identity effects by factor in the steady increase of women’s Journal of Economics, 115 (2000), pp. temporarily making more salient (“prim- involvement in the labor force has been 715–53. ing”) a certain social category and seeing the growing number of men being raised 2 C. Goldin, “A Pollution Theory of how the subjects’ choices are affected by in families with working mothers. These Discrimination: Male and Female this priming. The gender identity salience men may have developed less stereotypi- Differences in Occupations and Earnings,” manipulation is done through a question- cal gender role attitudes, with weaker NBER Working Paper No. 8985, naire at the beginning of the experiment association between their masculinity and June 2002, and forthcoming in Leah in which subjects are asked to identify being the only or main breadwinner in P. Boustan, C. Frydman, and R. A. their gender and whether they are living their household. In particular, they show Margo, eds., Human Capital in History: on a coed versus a single-sex dormitory that men whose mothers worked are more The American Record, Chicago, IL:

16 NBER Reporter • 2014 Number 2 University of Chicago Press, 2014. Paper No. 19023, May 2013. February 2000, and Journal of Political 3 N. Fortin, “Gender Role Attitudes and 9 T. Watson and S. McLanahan, Economy, 110 (2002), pp. 730–70. the Labour Market Outcomes of Women “Marriage Meets the Joneses: Relative 14 C. Goldin, “The Quiet Revolution Across OECD Countries,” Oxford Review Income, Identity, and Marital Status,” that Transformed Women’s Employment, of Economic Policy, 21 (2005), pp. 416– NBER Working Paper No. 14773, March Education, and Family,” NBER Working 38. 2009, and Journal of Human Resources, Paper No. 11953, January 2006, and 4 N. Fortin, “Gender Role Attitudes 46 (2011), pp. 482–517. American Economic Review: Papers and and Women’s Labor Market 10 See M. Niederle and L. Vesterlund, “Do Proceedings, 96 (2006), pp. 1–21. Participation: Opting Out, AIDS, and Women Shy Away From Competition? 15 R. Fernandez, A. Fogli, and C. Olivetti, the Persistent Appeal of Housewifery,” Do Men Compete Too Much?” NBER “Preference Formation and the Rise of University of British Columbia Working Working Paper No. 11474, July 2005, Women’s Labor Force Participation: Paper, December 2013. and Quarterly Journal of Economics, Evidence from WWII,” NBER Working 5 F. D. Blau and L. M. Kahn, “Female 122 (2007), pp. 1067–101; and T. Paper No. 10589, June 2004; R. Labor Supply: Why is the U.S. Falling Buser, M. Niederle, and H. Oosterbeek, Fernandez, A. Fogli, and C. Olivetti, Behind?” NBER Working Paper No. “Gender, Competitiveness and Career “Marrying Your Mom: Preference 18702, January 2013, and American Choices,” NBER Working Paper No. Transmission and Women’s Labor and Economic Review: Papers and 18576, November 2012, and forthcoming Education Choices,” NBER Working Proceedings, 103 (2013), pp. 251–6. in Quarterly Journal of Economics, 129 Paper No. 9234, September 2002; and 6 R. Fernandez and A. Fogli, (2014). R. Fernandez, A. Fogli, and C. Olivetti, “Culture: An Empirical Investigation 11 M. Bertrand and K. F. Hallock, “The “Mothers and Sons: Preference Formation of Beliefs, Work, and Fertility,” NBER Gender Gap in Top Corporate Jobs,” and Female Labor Force Dynamics,” Working Paper No. 11268, April 2005, NBER Working Paper No. 7931, October Quarterly Journal of Economics 119 and American Economic Journal: 2000, and Industrial and Labor Relations (2004), pp. 1249–99. Macroeconomics, 1 (2009), pp. 146–77. Review, 55 (2001), pp. 3–21. 16 C. Olivetti, E. Patacchini, Y. Zenou, 7 M. Bertrand, C. Goldin, and L. F. 12 D. J. Benjamin, J. J. Choi, and A. “Mothers, Friends, and Gender Identity,” Katz, “Dynamics of the Gender Gap for J. Strickland, “Social Identity and NBER Working Paper No. 19610, Young Professionals in the Corporate and Preferences,” NBER Working Paper No. November 2013. Financial Sectors,” NBER Working Paper 13309, August 2007, and American 17 A. F. Alesina, P. Giuliano, and N. No. 14681, January 2009, and American Economic Review, 100 (2010), pp. Nunn, “On the Origins of Gender Roles: Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 1913–28. Women and the Plough,” NBER Working 2 (2010), pp. 228–55. 13 C. Goldin and L. F. Katz, “The Power Paper No. 17098, May 2011, and 8 M. Bertrand, J. Pan, and E. Kamenica, of the Pill: Oral Contraceptives and Quarterly Journal of Economics, 128 “Gender Identity and Relative Income Women’s Career and Marriage Decisions,” (2013), pp. 469–530. within Households,” NBER Working NBER Working Paper No. 7527,

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