IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/vrs/izajle/v12y2023i1p35n4.html

The gender gap in academic productivity during the pandemic: Is childcare responsible?

Author

Listed:
  • Chinetti Simone

    (University of Naples Federico II, Department of Economics and Statistics, Via Cinthia 21, Complesso Universitario di Monte Sant’Angelo – 80126 Naples (NA) – Italy.)

Abstract

I investigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent surge in childcare demand on the research productivity of female economics. Using data from SSRN and a Difference-in-Differences approach, I show that around the timing of confinements, the gender production gap widens by around 20 percentage points, an adverse effect persisting up to 4 months later the beginning of social restriction measures. Declines in production, however, vanish during the school re-opening period suggesting a prominent role in childcare demand.

Suggested Citation

  • Chinetti Simone, 2023. "The gender gap in academic productivity during the pandemic: Is childcare responsible?," IZA Journal of Labor Economics, Sciendo & Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 12(1), pages 1-35, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:vrs:izajle:v:12:y:2023:i:1:p:35:n:4
    DOI: 10.2478/izajole-2023-0007
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.2478/izajole-2023-0007
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.2478/izajole-2023-0007?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Nicholas Bloom & James Liang & John Roberts & Zhichun Jenny Ying, 2015. "Does Working from Home Work? Evidence from a Chinese Experiment," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 130(1), pages 165-218.
    2. Erin Hengel, 2022. "Publishing While Female: are Women Held to Higher Standards? Evidence from Peer Review," The Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 132(648), pages 2951-2991.
    3. Donna K. Ginther & Shulamit Kahn, 2004. "Women in Economics: Moving Up or Falling Off the Academic Career Ladder?," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 18(3), pages 193-214, Summer.
    4. Adams-Prassl, Abi & Boneva, Teodora & Golin, Marta & Rauh, Christopher, 2020. "Inequality in the impact of the coronavirus shock: Evidence from real time surveys," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 189(C).
    5. Heather Sarsons, 2017. "Recognition for Group Work: Gender Differences in Academia," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 107(5), pages 141-145, May.
    6. John P A Ioannidis & Kevin W Boyack & Richard Klavans, 2014. "Estimates of the Continuously Publishing Core in the Scientific Workforce," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 9(7), pages 1-10, July.
    7. James Banks & Xiaowei Xu, 2020. "The Mental Health Effects of the First Two Months of Lockdown during the COVID‐19 Pandemic in the UK," Fiscal Studies, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 41(3), pages 685-708, September.
    8. Amanda Bayer & Cecilia Elena Rouse, 2016. "Diversity in the Economics Profession: A New Attack on an Old Problem," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 30(4), pages 221-242, Fall.
    9. Hilary Hoynes & Douglas L. Miller & Jessamyn Schaller, 2012. "Who Suffers during Recessions?," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 26(3), pages 27-48, Summer.
    10. Shelly Lundberg & Jenna Stearns, 2019. "Women in Economics: Stalled Progress," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 33(1), pages 3-22, Winter.
    11. Shelly Lundberg, 2019. "Report: Committee on the Status of Women in the Economics Profession (CSWEP)," AEA Papers and Proceedings, American Economic Association, vol. 109, pages 676-694, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Valentina Paredes & M. Daniele Paserman & Francisco J. Pino, 2025. "Does Economics Make You Sexist?," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 107(5), pages 1247-1259, September.
    2. Biermann, Marcus, 2024. "Remote talks: Changes to economics seminars during COVID-19," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 163(C).
    3. Deepa Dhume Datta & Robert J. Vigfusson, 2024. "Measuring Inclusion: Gender and Coauthorship at the Federal Reserve Board," Finance and Economics Discussion Series 2024-091, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.).
    4. Nicole M. Fortin, 2025. "Gender differences in career progression among PhDs in Economics," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 58(3), pages 806-830, August.
    5. Emily C. Marshall & Brian O’Roark, 2023. "Journal Authorship by Gender: A Comparison of Economic Education, General Interest, and Fields From 2009 to 2019," The American Economist, Sage Publications, vol. 68(1), pages 100-109, March.
    6. David Card & Stefano DellaVigna & Patricia Funk & Nagore Iriberri, 2020. "Are Referees and Editors in Economics Gender Neutral?," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 135(1), pages 269-327.
    7. Bruns, Stephan B. & Doucouliagos, Anthony & Doucouliagos, Hristos & König, Johannes & Stanley, T.D. & Zigova, Katarina, 2026. "The delayed acceptance of female research in economics," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 182(C).
    8. Davies, Benjamin, 2022. "Gender sorting among economists: Evidence from the NBER," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 217(C).
    9. Verónica Amarante & Marisa Bucheli & Mar�a In�s Moraes & Tatiana P�rez, 2021. "Women in Research in Economics in Uruguay," Revista Cuadernos de Economia, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, FCE, CID, vol. 40(84), pages 763-790.
    10. Baltrunaite, Audinga & Casarico, Alessandra & Rizzica, Lucia, 2025. "Women in economics: The role of gendered references at entry in the profession," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 180(C).
    11. Amano-Patiño, Noriko & Faraglia, Elisa & Giannitsarou, Chryssi, 2025. "Economics coauthorships in the aftermath of MeToo," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 176(C).
    12. Bosworth, Steven J. & Della Giusta, Marina, 2024. "When Matthew Met Larry: Explaining the Persistence of Gender Underrepresentation in High Status Organizations," IZA Discussion Papers 17460, IZA Network @ LISER.
    13. Richard McManus & Karen Mumford & Cristina Sechel, 2022. "Measuring research excellence amongst economics lecturers in the UK," Bulletin of Economic Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 74(2), pages 386-404, April.
    14. Jihui Chen & Qihong Liu & Myongjin Kim, 2022. "Gender gap in tenure and promotion: Evidence from the economics Ph.D. class of 2008," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 88(4), pages 1277-1312, April.
    15. Gamage, Danula K. & Sevilla, Almudena & Smith, Sarah, 2020. "Women in Economics: A UK Perspective," IZA Discussion Papers 13477, IZA Network @ LISER.
    16. Paula Pereda, Fabiana Rocha & Liz Matsunaga & Maria Dolores Montoya Diaz & Renata Narita & Bruna Borges, 2021. "Gender differences in the academic career of economics in Brazil," Revista Cuadernos de Economia, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, FCE, CID, vol. 40(84), pages 815-892.
    17. Koffi, Marlene, 2021. "Innovative ideas and gender inequality," CLEF Working Paper Series 35, Canadian Labour Economics Forum (CLEF), University of Waterloo.
    18. Rebecca Cassells & Leonora Risse & Danielle Wood & Duygu Yengin, 2023. "Lifting Diversity and Inclusion in Economics: How the Australian Women in Economics Network Put the Evidence into Action," Economic Papers, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 42(1), pages 1-29, March.
    19. Davies, Benjamin, 2022. "Sex-based sorting among economists: Evidence from the NBER," SocArXiv zeb7a, Center for Open Science.
    20. Valerie K. Bostwick & Bruce A. Weinberg, 2022. "Nevertheless She Persisted? Gender Peer Effects in Doctoral STEM Programs," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 40(2), pages 397-436.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    JEL classification:

    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:vrs:izajle:v:12:y:2023:i:1:p:35:n:4. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Peter Golla (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.sciendo.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.