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Gendered Laws and Women in the Workforce

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  • Marie Hyland
  • Simeon Djankov
  • Pinelopi Koujianou Goldberg

Abstract

This paper offers for the first time a global picture of gender discrimination by the law as it affects women's economic opportunity and charts the evolution of legal inequalities over five decades. Using the World Bank's newly constructed Women, Business and the Law database, we document large and persistent gender inequalities, especially with regard to pay and treatment of parenthood. We find positive correlations between more equal laws pertaining to women in the workforce and more equal labor market outcomes, such as higher female labor force participation and a smaller wage gap between men and women.

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  • Marie Hyland & Simeon Djankov & Pinelopi Koujianou Goldberg, 2020. "Gendered Laws and Women in the Workforce," American Economic Review: Insights, American Economic Association, vol. 2(4), pages 475-490, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:aea:aerins:v:2:y:2020:i:4:p:475-90
    DOI: 10.1257/aeri.20190542
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    Cited by:

    1. Hyland,Marie Caitriona,Islam,Asif Mohammed, 2021. "Gendered Laws, Informal Origins, and Subsequent Performance," Policy Research Working Paper Series 9766, The World Bank.
    2. Escamilla Guerrero, David & Lepistö, Miko & Minns, Chris, 2022. "Explaining gender differences in migrant sorting: evidence from Canada-US migration," Economic History Working Papers 117260, London School of Economics and Political Science, Department of Economic History.
    3. Lo Bue, Maria C. & Le, Tu Thi Ngoc & Santos Silva, Manuel & Sen, Kunal, 2022. "Gender and vulnerable employment in the developing world: Evidence from global microdata," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 159(C).
    4. Marie Hyland & Simeon Djankov & Pinelopi Koujianou Goldberg, 2020. "Gendered Laws and Women in the Workforce," American Economic Review: Insights, American Economic Association, vol. 2(4), pages 475-490, December.
    5. Hyland, Marie & Djankov, Simeon & Goldberg, Pinelopi, 2021. "Do gendered laws matter?," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 118845, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    6. Imène Berguiga & Philippe Adair, 2022. "Funding female entrepreneurs in MENA countries (2013-2019): self-selection and discrimination," Erudite Working Paper 2022-05, Erudite.
    7. Collins, Matthew, 2022. "Sibling Gender, Inheritance Customs and Educational Attainment: Evidence from Matrilineal and Patrilineal Societies," Working Papers 2022:5, Lund University, Department of Economics.
    8. Demeze-Jouatsa, Ghislain-Herman & Pongou, Roland & Tondji, Jean-Baptiste, 2021. "A Free and Fair Economy: A Game of Justice and Inclusion," Center for Mathematical Economics Working Papers 653, Center for Mathematical Economics, Bielefeld University.
    9. Sánchez, Gonzalo E. & Rhodes, Lauren A. & Espinoza, Nereyda E. & Borja, Viviana, 2022. "Assessing the Gap between Social and Individual Perceptions of Sexual Harassment," MPRA Paper 112711, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    10. Diego Gentile Passaro & Fuhito Kojima & Bobak Pakzad-Hurson, 2023. "Equal Pay for Similar Work," Papers 2306.17111, arXiv.org.
    11. Fahim Marhubi, 2023. "Impact of Gender Discrimination Laws on Inflation: Evidence from Panel Data," International Advances in Economic Research, Springer;International Atlantic Economic Society, vol. 29(3), pages 99-109, August.
    12. Chen, S. & Doerr, S. & Frost, J. & Gambacorta, L. & Shin, H.S., 2023. "The fintech gender gap," Journal of Financial Intermediation, Elsevier, vol. 54(C).
    13. Ghislain H. Demeze-Jouatsa & Roland Pongou & Jean-Baptiste Tondji, 2021. "A Free and Fair Economy: A Game of Justice and Inclusion," Papers 2107.12870, arXiv.org.
    14. Davis, Lewis S. & Williamson, Claudia R., 2022. "Individualism and women's economic rights," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 198(C), pages 579-597.
    15. Eger, Claudia & Fetzer, Thiemo & Peck, Jennifer & Alodayni, Saleh, 2022. "Organizational, economic or cultural? Firm-side barriers to employing women in Saudi Arabia," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 160(C).
    16. Amin,Mohammad & Islam,Asif Mohammed, 2022. "The Impact of Paid Maternity Leave on Women’s Employment : Evidence Using Firm-LevelSurvey Data from Developing Countries," Policy Research Working Paper Series 10188, The World Bank.
    17. Bertrand, Jérémie & Perrin, Caroline, 2022. "Girls Just Wanna Have Funds? The effect of women-friendly legislation on female-led firms’ access to credit," International Review of Law and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    18. José-Ignacio Antón & Rafael Grande & Rafael Muñoz de Bustillo & Fernando Pinto, 2023. "Gender Gaps in Working Conditions," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 166(1), pages 53-83, February.
    19. Joslin, Knut-Eric & Nordvik, Frode Martin, 2021. "Does religion curtail women during booms? Evidence from resource discoveries," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 187(C), pages 205-224.
    20. Bhalotra, Sonia R & Fernández, Manuel & Wang, Fan, 2022. "The distribution of the gender wage gap : An equilibrium model," CAGE Online Working Paper Series 614, Competitive Advantage in the Global Economy (CAGE).

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • D63 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Equity, Justice, Inequality, and Other Normative Criteria and Measurement
    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials
    • J71 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor Discrimination - - - Hiring and Firing
    • J78 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor Discrimination - - - Public Policy (including comparable worth)
    • K31 - Law and Economics - - Other Substantive Areas of Law - - - Labor Law
    • K38 - Law and Economics - - Other Substantive Areas of Law - - - Human Rights Law; Gender Law; Animal Rights Law

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