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Job protection: the Macho Hypothesis?

Author

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  • Yann Algan

    (ECON - Département d'économie (Sciences Po) - Sciences Po - Sciences Po - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique)

  • Pierre Cahuc

    (X-DEP-ECO - Département d'Économie de l'École Polytechnique - X - École polytechnique - IP Paris - Institut Polytechnique de Paris)

Abstract

This paper shows that employment protection is influenced by the male breadwinner conception which is itself shaped by religions. First, by using international individual surveys, we document that Catholics, Muslims and Orthodoxs are more likely to support such "macho values" than Protestants and atheists. Second, we develop a model showing that such a macho bias yields support to job protection legislation. This prediction is strongly supported by OECD panel data regressions including country-fixed effects.

Suggested Citation

  • Yann Algan & Pierre Cahuc, 2004. "Job protection: the Macho Hypothesis?," SciencePo Working papers Main hal-01065504, HAL.
    • Handle: RePEc:hal:spmain:hal-01065504
    Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://sciencespo.hal.science/hal-01065504
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    job protection; political economy; religion;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J20 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - General

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