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  5. The Widespread Effects of Gender in Economic Life: Education, Health, and Entrepreneurship
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The Widespread Effects of Gender in Economic Life: Education, Health, and Entrepreneurship

Paper Session

Saturday, Jan. 8, 2022 12:15 PM - 2:15 PM (EST)

Hosted By: American Economic Association & Committee on the Status of Women in the Economics Profession
  • Chair: Seema Jayachandran, Northwestern University

Gendered Teacher Feedback, Students' Math Performance and Enrollment Outcomes: A Text Mining Approach

Marion Monnet
,
French National Institute of Demographic Studies
Pauline Charousset
,
Paris School of Economics

Abstract

We propose a novel approach to measure the degree of gender differentiation in the vocabulary that teachers use to assess their students’ work. We build a model that predicts each student’s gender based on the words appearing in the feedback she receives. For every teacher, we estimate a synthetic measure of gender-differentiation by computing the model’s predictive accuracy on each teacher’s students, controlling for gender imbalances in ability. Using the universe of French Grade 12 students’ math transcripts, we show that math teachers use different words to assess the work of male and female students with a similar performance level. The qualitative analysis of our model’s best gender predictors reveals that teachers insist more on positive managerial aspects for their female students, while equally performing males are both more criticized for their unruly behaviour and praised for their intellectual skills. Using the within high school, elective and year variation, we further show that a higher gender differentiation in the teachers’ feedback translates into an improved performance at the math baccalauréat exam, but does not affect students’ matriculation in the following year.

The Gender Gap in Small Business Performance: Evidence from a Food Ordering Platform

Xinyao Qiu
,
Stanford University
Carol Lu
,
Stanford University

Abstract

On top of the well-documented gender pay gap among wage earners, female-owned micro-enterprises are found to be less profitable. In this paper, we explore the gender gap in business performances among freelancers selling home-cooked meals, an area that is traditionally perceived as female-typed and involves complicated business strategy-making. Using high-quality proprietary data from a Chinese online food ordering platform, we document a 12% gender gap in sellers' daily revenues. Factors highlighted in the existing literature such as working hours and experience narrow the gap by 63%. The remaining gap can be explained by male and female freelancers adopting different business strategies in pricing, positioning, and market expansion.

Mis(sed) Diagnosis: Physician Decision Making and ADHD

Kelli Marquardt
,
Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago

Abstract

While the presence of disparities in healthcare is well documented, the mechanisms of such disparities are less understood, particularly in relation to mental health. This paper develops and estimates a structural model of diagnosis for the most prevalent child mental health condition, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). The model incorporates both patient and physician influences, highlighting four key mechanisms of mental health diagnosis: true underlying prevalence, patient stigma, diagnostic uncertainty, and physician costs from type I and type II diagnostic errors. I estimate sex-specific structural model parameters using novel electronic health record data on doctors’ notes together with machine learning and natural language processing techniques. In raw comparisons, males are 2.3 times more likely to be diagnosed with ADHD than females. Counterfactual simulations using model estimates show that less than one-half of this disparity can be explained by true differences in underlying ADHD prevalence, very little explained by patient preferences, and about 50% attributed to differences in physician decision-making. I show that physicians view missed diagnosis to be costlier than misdiagnosis, especially for their male patients. Back of the envelope calculations estimate the national economic impact of ADHD diagnostic errors to be $60-$117 billion US dollars, suggesting a need for public and/or medical policy responses aimed at increasing diagnostic accuracy and reducing disparities in mental health care.

Cash Transfers, Liquidity Constraints, and Women’s Psychosocial Wellbeing: Evidence from an Ultra-Poor Setting

Eeshani Kandpal
,
World Bank
Pascale Schnitzer
,
World Bank
Modeste Daye
,
University of Namur

Abstract

We ask whether in ultra-poor settings cash alone can improve productive outcomes and subjective well-being beyond consumption and if targeting these transfers to women has heterogeneous effects within households. Using a discontinuity in the eligibility rule for an unconditional cash transfer in Chad, we show that household consumption increases by 46.7 percent and chronic food insecurity decreases by 34 percent. Recipient households are 59.8 percentage points more likely to start a non-agricultural business, and they report a 300 percent increase in the value of non-agricultural business assets held and a 240 percent increase in the value of harvest produced. These household-level effects mask considerable intrahousehold heterogeneity and are suggestive of vertical integration within the household. Men, increasing their harvest production by 277 percent, tend to shift away from non-agricultural businesses and crop sales, while the opposite is true for women, who report a 180 percent increase in profits from non-agricultural businesses and a 369 percent increase in crop sales. Concomitantly, we estimate an 11.6 percent increase in self-efficacy, a 20 percent reduction in depression, a 35 percent improvement in physical well-being, and a 19.4 percent improvement in perceived social status. While self-efficacy increases for both men and men, the mental and physical health impacts are concentrated among women and the social status impacts in men. Overall, the program is likely cost-effective at the end of its first year, highlighting the potential for small cash grants as a means of poverty reduction and improving women’s welfare.

Discussant(s)
Alex Eble
,
Columbia University
Barbara Biasi
,
Yale University
Maya Rossin-Slater
,
Stanford University
Jenny Aker
,
Tufts University
JEL Classifications
  • I0 - General