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American Economic Review: Vol. 103 No. 1 (February 2013)
AER Volume. 103, Issue 1 | 
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Cultural Change as Learning: The Evolution of Female Labor Force Participation over a Century
Article Citation
Fernández, Raquel. 2013. "Cultural Change as Learning: The Evolution of Female Labor Force Participation over a Century."
American Economic Review,
103(1): 472-500.
DOI: 10.1257/aer.103.1.472
DOI: 10.1257/aer.103.1.472
Abstract
This paper develops a learning model of cultural change to investigate why women's labor force participation (LFP) and attitudes toward women’s work both changed dramatically. In the model, women's beliefs about the long-run payoff from working evolve endogenously via an intergenerational learning process. This process generically generates the data's S-shaped LFP curve and introduces a novel role for wage changes via their effect on the speed of intergenerational learning. The calibrated model does a good job of replicating the evolution of female LFP in the United States over the last 120 years and finds that the new role for wages was quantitatively significant.
Article Full-Text Access
Full-text Article
Additional Materials
Download Data Set (15.69 MB) | Online Appendix (571.90 KB)
Authors
Fernández, Raquel (NYU and IZA, Bonn)
JEL Classifications
D83: Search; Learning; Information and Knowledge; Communication; Belief
J16: Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
J22: Time Allocation and Labor Supply
J31: Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials
N31: Economic History: Labor and Consumers, Demography, Education, Health, Welfare, Income, Wealth, Religion, and Philanthropy: U.S.; Canada: Pre-1913
N32: Economic History: Labor and Consumers, Demography, Education, Health, Welfare, Income, Wealth, Religion, and Philanthropy: U.S.; Canada: 1913-
Z13: Economic Sociology; Economic Anthropology; Social and Economic Stratification
J16: Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
J22: Time Allocation and Labor Supply
J31: Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials
N31: Economic History: Labor and Consumers, Demography, Education, Health, Welfare, Income, Wealth, Religion, and Philanthropy: U.S.; Canada: Pre-1913
N32: Economic History: Labor and Consumers, Demography, Education, Health, Welfare, Income, Wealth, Religion, and Philanthropy: U.S.; Canada: 1913-
Z13: Economic Sociology; Economic Anthropology; Social and Economic Stratification
