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Gender-biased technological change: Milking machines and the exodus of women from farming

Author

Listed:
  • Ager, Philipp
  • Goñi, Marc
  • Salvanes, Kjell G

Abstract

This paper studies how gender-biased technological change in agriculture affected women's work in 20th-century Norway. After WWII, dairy farms began widely adopting milking machines to replace the hand milking of cows, a task typically performed by young women. We show that the adoption of milking machines pushed young rural women out of farming in dairy-intensive municipalities. The displaced women moved to cities where they acquired more education and found better-paid employment. Our results suggest that the adoption of milking machines broke up allocative inefficiencies across sectors, which improved the economic status of women relative to men.

Suggested Citation

  • Ager, Philipp & Goñi, Marc & Salvanes, Kjell G, 2023. "Gender-biased technological change: Milking machines and the exodus of women from farming," CEPR Discussion Papers 18290, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    • Handle: RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:18290
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    Cited by:

    1. is not listed on IDEAS
    2. Olivetti, Claudia & Pan, Jessica & Petrongolo, Barbara, 2024. "The evolution of gender in the labor market," Handbook of Labor Economics,, Elsevier.
    3. Olivetti, Claudia & Pan, Jessica & Petrongolo, Barbara, 2024. "The Evolution of Gender in the Labor Market," IZA Discussion Papers 17559, IZA Network @ LISER.
    4. Cardoso, Ana Rute & Morin, Louis-Philippe, 2025. "Male labor scarcity, technology adoption and female labor market integration: A quantitative and qualitative study of Portugal," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 252(C).

    More about this item

    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
    • J43 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Particular Labor Markets - - - Agricultural Labor Markets
    • J61 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Geographic Labor Mobility; Immigrant Workers
    • N34 - Economic History - - Labor and Consumers, Demography, Education, Health, Welfare, Income, Wealth, Religion, and Philanthropy - - - Europe: 1913-
    • O14 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Industrialization; Manufacturing and Service Industries; Choice of Technology
    • O33 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Technological Change: Choices and Consequences; Diffusion Processes

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