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Pollution, Ability, and Gender-Specific Investment Responses to Shocks

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  • Teresa Molina

Abstract

This paper explores how labor market conditions drive gender differences in the human capital decisions of men and women. Specifically, I investigate how male and female schooling decisions respond to an exogenous change in cognitive ability. Using data from Mexico, I begin by documenting that in utero exposure to thermal inversions, which exacerbate air pollution, leads to lower cognitive ability in adulthood for both men and women. I then explore how male and female schooling decisions respond differentially to this cognitive shock: for women only, pollution exposure leads to reduced educational attainment and income. I show that this gender difference is explained by the fact that women disproportionately sort into white-collar jobs, where schooling and ability are more complementary than they are in blue-collar jobs.

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  • Teresa Molina, 2021. "Pollution, Ability, and Gender-Specific Investment Responses to Shocks," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 19(1), pages 580-619.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:jeurec:v:19:y:2021:i:1:p:580-619.
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1093/jeea/jvaa005
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    Cited by:

    1. Baker, Samuel & Biroli, Pietro & van Kippersluis, Hans & von Hinke, Stephanie, 2022. "Beyond Barker: Infant Mortality at Birth and Ischaemic Heart Disease in Older Age," IZA Discussion Papers 15291, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    2. Shi, Xinjie & Huangfu, Bingyu & Jin, Songqing & Gao, Xuwen, 2023. "Property Rights, Labor Reallocation, and Gender Inequality in Rural China," 2023 Annual Meeting, July 23-25, Washington D.C. 335534, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    3. Chen, Shuai & Oliva, Paulina & Zhang, Peng, 2022. "The effect of air pollution on migration: Evidence from China," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 156(C).
    4. Damini Singh & Indrani Gupta & Sagnik Dey, 2022. "Effect of Air Pollution on Cognitive Performance in India," IEG Working Papers 452, Institute of Economic Growth.

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