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  5. Identity, Culture, and the Economics of Gender
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Identity, Culture, and the Economics of Gender

Paper Session

Saturday, Jan. 8, 2022 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM (EST)

Hosted By: American Economic Association
  • Chair: Claudia Olivetti, Dartmouth College

Gender Identity and Economic Decision-Making

Anne Ardila Brenøe
,
University of Zurich
Lea Heursen
,
Humboldt University of Berlin
Eva Ranehill
,
University of Gothenburg
Roberto Weber
,
University of Zurich

Abstract

Until now, economic research on gender gaps in preferences and their importance for individual economic outcomes has been based on biological sex—a binary classification as either a “man” or “woman.” We investigate the value of incorporating a continuous measure of self-reported gender identity into economics by exploring whether gender identity explains variation in economic behavior beyond that of a binary classification. First, we validate a short novel measure of non-binary gender in a survey study, showing that this measure correlates with longer measures widely used in gender research outside economics. Second, we assess the explanatory value of our validated measure in an incentivized experiment exploring previously documented gender preference gaps in risk attitudes, competitiveness, preference for equality over efficiency, and overconfidence. A pilot experiment replicates sex gaps in these four measures, shows that they are positively correlated with continuous gender and, for risk attitudes, this correlation is robust to controlling for biological sex. However, we do not replicate this latter finding in a larger study. In conclusion, we do not find that continuous gender explains variations in incentivized economic preferences once accounting for biological sex.

Gender Norms, Integration Costs, and Missing Women in Firms

Jennifer R. Peck
,
Swarthmore College
Conrad Miller
,
University of California-Berkeley
Mehmet Seflek
,
University of California-Berkeley

Abstract

Where social norms favor gender segregation, firms may find it costly to employ both men and women. If the costs of integration are largely fixed, firms will integrate only if their expected number of female employees under integration exceeds some threshold. We deploy a methodology that uses the distribution of female employment across firms to estimate the share of firms with binding integration costs and counterfactual female employment at all-male firms. Using survey data on manufacturing firms in 65 countries, we find evidence for these binding integration costs (and a corresponding excess of all-male firms) in Middle East and North Africa (MENA), and South Asia but not in other regions. We also find some evidence that the intensity of gender segregation preferences is correlated with these integration costs in the MENA region.

Hacking Gender Stereotypes

Michela Carlana
,
Harvard University
Margherita Fort
,
University of Bologna

Abstract

Who are the girls that decide to sign-up for STEM programs and coding clubs? In this paper, we rely on a large set of survey data from students to analyze how fe- male students who apply to the clubs differ from other students in the schools. Girls applying to coding clubs have higher STEM interest, but they perceive their own gender as a stronger barrier to achieve their educational goal. Supporting this pool of female applicants with STEM programs might have a substantial role in affecting their educational and occupational career and closing the gender gaps in STEM.

Gender Economics and the Meaning of Discrimination

Shelly Lundberg
,
University of California-Santa Barbara

Abstract

Recent advances in economics hold much promise for an improved understanding of complex issues concerning gender and gender inequalities. New sources of data, from experiments through administrative rosters, give us unprecedented ability to measure individual traits, behaviors, and histories. A more realistic economics of choice based on behavioral economics, studies of social influences on economic outcomes, and a recognition of the role of cultural persistence and transmission in patterns of behavior have blurred our traditional separation of preferences and constraints. In much applied work, however, development of a broader conceptual framework run into persistent habits of mind in economics that have prevented us from seeing beyond the discrimination vs. preferences dichotomy generally applied to gender differences.

Discussant(s)
Nancy Folbre
,
University of Massachusetts-Amherst
Paola Giuliano
,
University of California-Los Angeles
JEL Classifications
  • J1 - Demographic Economics