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Immigration, Female Labour Supply and Local Cultural Norms

Author

Listed:
  • Jonas Jessen
  • Sophia Schmitz
  • Felix Weinhardt

Abstract

We study the local evolution of female labour supply and cultural norms in West Germany in reaction to the sudden presence of East Germans who migrated to the West after reunification. These migrants grew up with high rates of maternal employment, whereas West German families mostly followed the traditional breadwinner-housewife model. We find that West German women increase their labour supply and that this holds within households. We provide additional evidence on stated gender norms, West-East friendships, intermarriage and child care infrastructure. The dynamic evolution of the effects on labour supply is best explained by local cultural learning.

Suggested Citation

  • Jonas Jessen & Sophia Schmitz & Felix Weinhardt, 2024. "Immigration, Female Labour Supply and Local Cultural Norms," The Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 134(659), pages 1146-1172.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:econjl:v:134:y:2024:i:659:p:1146-1172.
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1093/ej/uead097
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    Cited by:

    1. Jessen, Jonas & Schweighofer-Kodritsch, Sebastian & Weinhardt, Felix & Berkes, Jan, 2023. "Separate Housework Spheres," VfS Annual Conference 2023 (Regensburg): Growth and the "sociale Frage" 277659, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    2. Federica Meluzzi, 2024. "The College Melting Pot: Peers, Culture and Women's Job Search," Papers 2409.20225, arXiv.org.
    3. Tom Günther & Jakob Conradi & Clemens Hetschko, 2024. "Socialism, Identity and the Well-Being of Unemployed Women," CESifo Working Paper Series 11154, CESifo.
    4. Barigozzi, Francesca & Montinari, Natalia, 2025. "Social norms in survey experiments: Personal beliefs versus normative expectations," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 239(C).
    5. Schmandt, Marco & Tielkes, Constantin & Weinhardt, Felix, 2025. "Random Placement but Real Bias," IZA Discussion Papers 18319, IZA Network @ LISER.
    6. Chen, Liwen & Chung, Bobby W. & Wang, Guanghua, 2025. "Composition of peer mothers and gender norms: Class randomization and short-run effects," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 234(C).
    7. Averkamp, Dorothée, 2024. "The Gender Wage Gap, Labor-Market Experience, and Family Choices: Lessons from East Germany?," VfS Annual Conference 2024 (Berlin): Upcoming Labor Market Challenges 302347, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    8. Qian, Ruoyu, 2024. "Communist propaganda and women’s status," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 171(C).
    9. Giesing, Yvonne & Kauder, Björn & Mergele, Lukas & Potrafke, Niklas & Poutvaara, Panu, 2024. "Moving Out of the Comfort Zone: How Cultural Norms Affect Attitudes toward Immigration," IZA Discussion Papers 16833, IZA Network @ LISER.
    10. Naomi Friedman-Sokuler & Claudia Senik, 2025. "From pink collar to lab coat: cultural persistence and diffusion of socialist gender norms," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 38(1), pages 1-34, March.
    11. Antonela Miho & Alexandra Jarotschkin & Ekaterina Zhuravskaya, 2024. "Diffusion of Gender Norms: Evidence from Stalin’s Ethnic Deportations," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 22(2), pages 475-527.
    12. Akbulut-Yuksel, Mevlude & Aydemir, Abdurrahman B. & Kirdar, Murat Güray & Turan, Belgi, 2025. "Breaking Barriers via Refugees: Cultural Transmission and Women’s Economic Empowerment," IZA Discussion Papers 17871, IZA Network @ LISER.
    13. Ryo Sakamoto & Katsunori Minami, 2024. "On the Undesirable Repercussions of Gender Norms in an Endogenous Growth Model," ISER Discussion Paper 1255, Institute of Social and Economic Research, The University of Osaka.
    14. Bredtmann, Julia & Otten, Sebastian, 2025. "Natives’ gender norms and the labor market integration of female immigrants," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 185(C).
    15. Marco Schmandt & Constantin Tielkes & Felix Weinhardt, 2025. "Random Placement but Real Bias," Berlin School of Economics Discussion Papers 0085, Berlin School of Economics.
    16. Günther, Tom & Conradi, Jakob & Hetschko, Clemens, 2025. "Socialism, identity and the well-being of unemployed women," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 95(C).

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • 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
    • D1 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior

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