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Gender Roles and Technological Progress

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Author Info
Albanesi, Stefania
Olivetti, Claudia

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Abstract

Until the early decades of the 20th century, women spent more than 60% of their prime-age years either pregnant or nursing. Since then, the introduction of infant formula reduced women's comparative advantage in infant care, by providing an effective breast milk substitute. In addition, improved medical knowledge and obstetric practices reduced the time cost associated with women's reproductive role. We explore the hypothesis that these developments enabled married women to increase their participation in the labour force, thus providing the incentive to invest in market skills, which in turn reduced their earnings differential with respect to men. We document these changes and develop a quantitative model that aims to capture their impact. Our results suggest that progress in medical technologies related to motherhood was essential to generate a significant rise in the participation of married women between 1920 and 1950, in particular those with young children.

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Paper provided by C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers in its series CEPR Discussion Papers with number 6352.

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Date of creation: Jun 2007
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Handle: RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:6352

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Related research
Keywords: female labour force participation; gender earnings gap; medical progress;

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
E24 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Macroeconomics: Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Employment; Unemployment; Wages; Intergenerational Income Distribution
J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth
J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
J21 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Labor Force and Employment, Size, and Structure
J22 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Time Allocation and Labor Supply
J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials
N3 - Economic History - - Labor and Consumers, Demography, Education, Income, and Wealth

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References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
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Full references

Cited by:
(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Raquel Fernandez, 2007. "Culture as Learning: The Evolution of Female Labor Force Participation over a Century," NBER Working Papers 13373, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  2. Pierre-André Chiappori & Murat Iyigun & Yoram Weiss, 2006. "Investment in Schooling and the Marriage Market," IZA Discussion Papers 2454, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  3. Greenwood, Jeremy & Guner, Nezih, 2008. "Social Change," IZA Discussion Papers 3485, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  4. Christian Bredemeier & Falko Jüßen, 2009. "Household Labor Supply and Home Services in a General-Equilibrium Model with Heterogeneous Agents," Ruhr Economic Papers 0091, Rheinisch-Westfälisches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Universität Dortmund, Universität Duisburg-Essen. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  5. Greenwood, Jeremy & Guner, Nezih, 2007. "Marriage and Divorce since World War II: Analyzing the Role of Technological Progress on the Formation of Households," CEPR Discussion Papers 6391, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  6. Stefania Albanesi & Claudia Olivetti, 2007. "Home production, market production and the gender wage gap: Incentives and expectations," Discussion Papers 0607-10, Columbia University, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  7. Alberto Alesina & Andrea Ichino & Loukas Karabarbounis, 2007. "Gender Based Taxation and the Division of Family Chores," IZA Discussion Papers 3233, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  8. Valerie A. Ramey, 2008. "Time Spent in Home Production in the 20th Century: New Estimates from Old Data," NBER Working Papers 13985, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  9. Alessandra Fogli & Laura Veldkamp, 2008. "Nature or Nurture? Learning and the Geography of Female Labor Force Participation," NBER Working Papers 14097, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  10. Stefania Albanesi & Claudia Olivetti, 2009. "Production, Market Production and the Gender Wage Gap: Incentives and Expectations," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 12(1), pages 80-107, January. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  11. Fernández, Raquel, 2007. "Culture as Learning: The Evolution of Female Labour Force Participation Over a Century," CEPR Discussion Papers 6451, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  12. Guner, Nezih & Kaygusuz, Remzi & Ventura, Gustavo, 2008. "Taxation, Aggregates and the Household," CEPR Discussion Papers 6702, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  13. Cavalcanti, Tiago & Tavares, José, 2007. "The Output Cost of Gender Discrimination: A Model-Based Macroeconomic Estimate," CEPR Discussion Papers 6477, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  14. de la Rica, Sara & Dolado, Juan José & García-Peñalosa, Cecilia, 2008. "On Gender Gaps and Self-fulfilling Expectations: Theory, Policies and Some Empirical Evidence," IZA Discussion Papers 3553, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  15. Doepke, Matthias & Tertilt, Michèle, 2008. "Women’s Liberation: What’s in It for Men?," IZA Discussion Papers 3421, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
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  16. Alexis León & Daniele Coen-Pirani & Steven Lugauer, 2008. "The Effect of Household Appliances on Female Labor Force Participation: Evidence from Micro Data," Working Papers 355, University of Pittsburgh, Department of Economics, revised Apr 2009. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  17. Paola Manzini & Marco Mariotti, 2007. "Choice Over Time," IZA Discussion Papers 2993, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
    • Paola Manzini & Marco Mariotti, 2007. "Choice over Time," Working Papers 605, Queen Mary, University of London, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
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