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Female Employment and Structural Transformation

Author

Listed:
  • Barbara Petrongolo

    (Queen Mary University and CEP (LSE))

  • Rachel Ngai

    (london school of economics)

Abstract

The rise in female participation to the labor market and the labor reallocation from manufacturing to services are two of the most remarkable stylized facts of the post-war period. Motivated by these facts, we propose a model of labor allocation across three sectors: goods, services and home production, in which women have a comparative advantage in the production of services, both in the market and in the household. Productivity growth is faster in market sectors than in home production, and, within the market, it is faster in manufacturing than in services. Goods and services are poor substitutes, which gives rise to structural transformation. On the other hand, market services are good substitutes to home production, which drives marketization. Realistic differences in productivity growth across sector can predict an important share of the rise in women's market hours, the rise of services in the economy and the marketization of home production.

Suggested Citation

  • Barbara Petrongolo & Rachel Ngai, 2012. "Female Employment and Structural Transformation," 2012 Meeting Papers 520, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    • Handle: RePEc:red:sed012:520
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Lawrence F. Katz & Kevin M. Murphy, 1992. "Changes in Relative Wages, 1963–1987: Supply and Demand Factors," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, Oxford University Press, vol. 107(1), pages 35-78.
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    5. Goldin, Claudia, 2006. "The Quiet Revolution That Transformed Women’s Employment, Education, and Family," Scholarly Articles 2943933, Harvard University Department of Economics.
    6. Mark Aguiar & Erik Hurst, 2007. "Measuring Trends in Leisure: The Allocation of Time Over Five Decades," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 122(3), pages 969-1006.
    7. Raquel Fernández & Alessandra Fogli & Claudia Olivetti, 2004. "Mothers and Sons: Preference Formation and Female Labor Force Dynamics," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 119(4), pages 1249-1299.
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    Cited by:

    1. Gunji, Hiroshi & Miyazaki, Kenji, 2017. "Why do Japanese women work so much less than Japanese men? A business cycle accounting approach," Japan and the World Economy, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 45-55.
    2. Claudia Olivetti, 2014. "The Female Labor Force and Long-Run Development: The American Experience in Comparative Perspective," NBER Chapters, in: Human Capital in History: The American Record, pages 161-197, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    3. Michelle Rendall, 2011. "The Service Sector and Female Market Work: Europe vs US," 2011 Meeting Papers 778, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    4. Tendai Zawaira & Manoel Bittencourt & Matthew W. Clance, 2018. "Gender Inequality and Marketisation Hypothesis in Sub-Saharan Africa," Working Papers 201876, University of Pretoria, Department of Economics.

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