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Does Capitalism Disfavor Women? Evidence from Life Satisfaction

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Abstract

There is widespread concern, especially in certain feminist circles, that a market-oriented economic system, or capitalism, disfavors women. This could take many forms, such as lower wages for the same type of work, reduced career opportunities, disparities in ownership and the upholding of traditional gender roles. In all, this could influence overall life satisfaction such that capitalism confers more life satisfaction on men than on women. We test empirically whether this concern is justified. Using the epidemiological approach to rule out reverse causality, we first confirm previous findings that most areas of economic freedom (legal quality in particular, but also monetary stability, openness and regulation) are beneficial for general life satisfaction. When looking at women and men separately, we find virtually no statistically significant differences, and in the cases we do, the estimates reveal a more beneficial outcome for women. Hence, we conclude that capitalism does not seem to favor men more than women in terms of life satisfaction.

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  • Berggren, Niclas & Bjørnskov, Christian, 2023. "Does Capitalism Disfavor Women? Evidence from Life Satisfaction," Working Paper Series 1471, Research Institute of Industrial Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:hhs:iuiwop:1471
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Economic freedom; Capitalism; Market economy; Life satisfaction; Gender; Happiness;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • B52 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - Current Heterodox Approaches - - - Historical; Institutional; Evolutionary; Modern Monetary Theory;
    • D02 - Microeconomics - - General - - - Institutions: Design, Formation, Operations, and Impact
    • D63 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Equity, Justice, Inequality, and Other Normative Criteria and Measurement
    • F13 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Trade Policy; International Trade Organizations
    • H11 - Public Economics - - Structure and Scope of Government - - - Structure and Scope of Government
    • I31 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - General Welfare, Well-Being
    • K20 - Law and Economics - - Regulation and Business Law - - - General
    • K38 - Law and Economics - - Other Substantive Areas of Law - - - Human Rights Law; Gender Law; Animal Rights Law
    • P16 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Capitalist Economies - - - Capitalist Institutions; Welfare State

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