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Human Capital, Female Employment, and Electricity: Evidence from the Early 20th Century United States

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  • Daniela Vidart

    (University of Connecticut)

Abstract

This paper revisits the link between electrification and the rise in female labor force participation (LFP), and presents theoretical and empirical evidence showing that elec-trification triggered a rise in female LFP by increasing market opportunities for skilled women. I formalize my theory in an overlapping generations model and find that my mechanism explains one quarter of the rise in female LFP during the rollout of elec-tricity in the United States (1880–1940), and matches the slow decline in female home-production hours during this period. I then present micro-evidence supporting my theory using newly digitized data on the early electrification of the United States.

Suggested Citation

  • Daniela Vidart, 2021. "Human Capital, Female Employment, and Electricity: Evidence from the Early 20th Century United States," Working papers 2021-08, University of Connecticut, Department of Economics, revised Sep 2022.
    • Handle: RePEc:uct:uconnp:2021-08
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    Cited by:

    1. Michele Fioretti & Jorge Tamayo, 2021. "Saving for a Dry Day: Coal, Dams, and the Energy Transition," Working Papers hal-03389152, HAL.
    2. Björn Brey, 2021. "The long-run gains from the early adoption of electricity," Discussion Papers 2021-05, University of Nottingham, GEP.
    3. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/1qif9fqehq930ovnr511k1el4f is not listed on IDEAS
    4. Agénor, Pierre-Richard & Agénor, Madina, 2023. "Access to infrastructure and women’s time allocation: Implications for growth and gender equality," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).
    5. repec:hal:wpspec:info:hdl:2441/1qif9fqehq930ovnr511k1el4f is not listed on IDEAS

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Female Labor Force Participation; Human Capital Accumulation; Electrification; Skill-biased Technical Change; Home to Market Transition; Brain vs. Brawn;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • O33 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Technological Change: Choices and Consequences; Diffusion Processes
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • E24 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Employment; Unemployment; Wages; Intergenerational Income Distribution; Aggregate Human Capital; Aggregate Labor Productivity
    • O11 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Macroeconomic Analyses of Economic Development
    • J22 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Time Allocation and Labor Supply

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