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The Power of Time: The Impact of Free IVF on Women’s Human Capital Investments

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  • Naomi Gershoni

    (BGU)

  • Corinne Low

    (University of Pennsylvania)

Abstract

Women’s time-limited fertility window, compared to men’s longer period of fecundity, could be a key constraint in shaping the gender gap in career choices and hence outcomes. Israel’s 1994 policy change that made in-vitro fertilization free provides a natural experiment for examining how fertility time horizons impact women’s investment choices. We find that following the policy change women complete more college and graduate education. We then present evidence suggesting that these larger investments contributed to better labor market outcomes, reducing the gender gap in career achievement. This further implies that persistent labor market inequality may be partly rooted in biological asymmetries.
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Suggested Citation

  • Naomi Gershoni & Corinne Low, 2020. "The Power of Time: The Impact of Free IVF on Women’s Human Capital Investments," Working Papers 2011, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Department of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:bgu:wpaper:2011
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    Cited by:

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    2. Marie‐Louise Leroux & Pierre Pestieau & Gregory Ponthiere, 2024. "The optimal design of assisted reproductive technologies policies," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 33(7), pages 1454-1479, July.
    3. Marie-Louise Leroux, 2024. "Politiques publiques de financement de la procréation assistée," CIRANO Project Reports 2024rp-23, CIRANO.
    4. Keller, Elena & Ortmann, Andreas & Chambers, Georgina Mary, 2024. "Exploring the demand for elective egg freezing: A laboratory experiment," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 111(C).
    5. Zhang, Lin, 2022. "Age matters for girls: School entry age and female graduate education," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 86(C).
    6. Tao Tang & Brayan Tillaguango & Rafael Alvarado & Ximena Songor-Jaramillo & Priscila Méndez & Stefania Pinzón, 2022. "Heterogeneity in the Causal Link between FDI, Globalization and Human Capital: New Empirical Evidence Using Threshold Regressions," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(14), pages 1-27, July.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth
    • 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

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