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  4. Preliminary Program
  5. Gender Gaps in Careers
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Gender Gaps in Careers

Paper Session

Tuesday, Jan. 5, 2021 12:15 PM - 2:15 PM (EST)

Hosted By: Labor and Employment Relations Association
  • Chair: Anders Frederiksen, Aarhus University

Careers of Married Women and the Nature of Husbands' Work: Evidence from Japan

Takao Kato
,
Colgate University
Yukiko Asai
,
University of Chicago
Ryo Kambayashi
,
Hitotsubashi University

Abstract

This paper provides fresh insight and evidence on the gender gap in career advancement. Our use of the Japanese data is motivated by Japan's unusually large gender gap in the labor market in spite of the rapidly narrowing gender gap in educational attainment, and the present public policy priority on enhancing Japanese women's careers. The multinomial logit estimates as well as the cohort analysis using the Employment Status Survey show consistently that when her husband is not in the rat race promotion tournament (measured by persistent long working hours), the married woman is less likely to stay home as a full-time homemaker and more likely to work. However, the married woman's increased labor market participation as a result of her husband's exit takes the form of work with limited scope for career advancement. We find no evidence that the husband's exit from the rat race will result in an increase in his wife's odds of pursuing her own career advancement. In contrast, a fall in the payoff from her husband's rat race career will result in an increase in the wife's odds of pursuing her own career. To overcome the limitations of the cross-sectional analysis, such as the selection issue caused by assortative mating, we conduct an additional analysis of panel data from the Labor Force Survey. The analysis confirms that the husband's exit will lead to a decrease in the odds of the wife pursuing career jobs with promotion prospects and an increase in odds of switching to non-career jobs. The finding is consistent with the theory of joint consumption of household public goods and synchronization of leisure-work choice between the husband and the wife. Our findings imply that without significant changes in the structure of Japan's well-established internal labor markets, simply making men work fewer hours through policy

The Primary Breadwinner Premium, Gender, and Job Context

Julie Nelson Wellmann
,
University of Minnesota
Colleen Flaherty Manchester
,
University of Minnesota

Abstract

Prior research finds evidence that the gender pay gap is most dramatic for professional and highly educated women (Blau & Kahn, 2017). Recent research also demonstrates that there is a primary breadwinner premium for married workers relative to workers who are dual breadwinners or secondary earners (Manchester, et al., 2019). This paper seeks to examine the intersection of these two phenomena. Findings from a field study diverge from recent research with evidence that women benefit less than men from a primary breadwinner premium. Given the field data come from a male-dominated industry, this raises the question as to whether the gender context of an organization determines how gender and breadwinner status interact to determine career rewards. A series of lab studies explores this question by manipulating job context, gender, and breadwinner type (primary or dual), enabling a test of the primary breadwinner premium by gender and job context.

The Summer Drop in Female Labor Supply

Melanie Wasserman
,
University of California-Los Angeles
Brendan Price
,
Federal Reserve Board

Abstract

There are well-established gender differences in labor supply: in comparison to men, women are less likely to be in the labor force and more likely to experience career interruptions. This paper contributes to our understanding of gender differences in labor supply by focusing on the timing of participation throughout the year. We document that women are substantially more likely than men to exit the labor force during the summer months, which contributes to lower overall female labor market participation and employment in summer. Consistent with women adjusting labor supply in response to increased childcare responsibilities due to school closures, the summer drop in female labor supply is concentrated among women with school-age children. We discuss the role of sectoral sorting in anticipation of childcare responsibilities in explaining these patterns.

The Return on Migration for Caribbean Women in the United States

Marcy Jagdeo
,
Howard University

Abstract

Earlier studies that considered female migration focused primarily on their involvement in family migration. However, as the rates of female migration have increased around the world, this research has shifted to understanding the selection patterns for women. While some studies have found that there are higher rates of male migration compared to female migration, this may differ significantly across regions. The Caribbean region has seen a mass exodus of professionals, particularly skilled women in health and education, which has begun to threaten the region (United Nations Secretariat, 2005). Understanding the determinants of women's migration is important among developing countries because women's human capital is a scarcer resource relative to that of men. This study finds that Caribbean women have a higher propensity to migrate compared to men. Those who migrate to the United States are more likely to be highly skilled. This study also explores the returns on migration for Caribbean women compared to their male counterparts.
Discussant(s)
William E. Spriggs
,
Howard University
Colleen Flaherty Manchester
,
University of Minnesota
JEL Classifications
  • M5 - Personnel Economics
  • M0 - General