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Female labour supply and intergenerational preference formation: Evidence for Mexico

Author

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  • Raymundo M. Campos-Vazquez

    (El Colegio de Mexico)

  • Roberto Velez-Grajales

    (Centro de Estudios Espinosa Yglesias)

Abstract

Using a national representative sample for Mexico, we analyse the effect of a husband having a working mother on the probability that he has a working wife. Our results show that labour force participation by a husband’s mother increases the probability of the labour force participation of his wife by 15 percentage points. The effect is mainly driven by males with less than a high school education. One possible confounding factor is the effect of labour force participation of the wife’s mother on the wife’s labour participation decision. However, in a different sample, we do not find any effect of work force participation of wives’ mothers on wives’ decisions to join the labour force. Finally, we test the effect of the work force participation of a husband’s mother on the husband’s preferences regarding child-rearing practices. We find that having a working mother strongly reduces the probability that daughters will be tasked to care for siblings and fosters preferences for a more egalitarian allocation of educational resources among children. Hence, promoting female labour force participation can have important dynamic implications, especially for developing countries.

Suggested Citation

  • Raymundo M. Campos-Vazquez & Roberto Velez-Grajales, 2013. "Female labour supply and intergenerational preference formation: Evidence for Mexico," Serie documentos de trabajo del Centro de Estudios Económicos 2013-06, El Colegio de México, Centro de Estudios Económicos.
  • Handle: RePEc:emx:ceedoc:2013-06
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    Cited by:

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    2. Evangelia Papapetrou & Pinelopi Tsalaporta, 2017. "Is there a case for intergenerational transmission of female labour force participation and educational attainment? Evidence from Greece during the crisis," Working Papers 223, Bank of Greece.
    3. Mine Durman-Aslan, 2020. "Female Labor Force Participation in Turkey: The Role of the Intergenerational Links," Post-Print halshs-02900982, HAL.
    4. Alice Evans, 2016. "‘For the Elections, We Want Women!’: Closing the Gender Gap in Zambian Politics," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 47(2), pages 388-411, March.
    5. Mine Durmaz-Aslan, 2020. "Female Labor Force Participation in Turkey: The Role of the Intergenerational Links," Documents de travail du Centre d'Economie de la Sorbonne 20013, Université Panthéon-Sorbonne (Paris 1), Centre d'Economie de la Sorbonne.
    6. Mine Durman-Aslan, 2020. "Female Labor Force Participation in Turkey: The Role of the Intergenerational Links," Université Paris1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (Post-Print and Working Papers) halshs-02900982, HAL.
    7. Victor Gay, 2023. "The Intergenerational Transmission of World War I on Female Labour," Working Papers hal-02523129, HAL.
    8. Victor Gay, 2017. "The Legacy of the Missing Men: The Long-Run Impact of World War I on Female Labor Force Participation," 2017 Papers pga905, Job Market Papers.
    9. Manuela Stranges, 2022. "The Intergenerational Transmission of Female Labour Force Participation by Gender among Native and Immigrant Europeans: A Focus on Religion," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 43(4), pages 774-798, December.
    10. Puigvert Jonathan & Juárez-Torres Miriam, 2019. "Labour Force Participation and the Business Cycle in Mexico," Working Papers 2019-04, Banco de México.
    11. Paloma Villagómez-Ornelas & Luis Monroy-Gómez-Franco, 2021. "Economic Inequality meets Social Stratification: An Application of Stratification Economics to Mexico," Papers 2021_03, Centro de Estudios Espinosa Yglesias.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    female labour supply; family; preferences; social norms; role models;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D10 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - General
    • J12 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Marriage; Marital Dissolution; Family Structure
    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
    • J22 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Time Allocation and Labor Supply
    • O54 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economywide Country Studies - - - Latin America; Caribbean

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