Working Paper: NBER ID: w25247
Authors: Wolfgang Keller; Hle Utar
Abstract: Facing the same labor demand shock through imports from China, we show that men and women make different labor market and family adjustments that result in significant long-run gender inequality. The gender gap is driven by the female biological clock. Using population registers and matched employer-employee data from Denmark, we document that especially women in their late 30s, towards the end of their biological clock, decide to have a baby as the shock causes displacement. High-earning women in leadership positions and women who need to acquire new human capital are central because their new employment would require particularly high investments that are incompatible with having a newborn in the short time remaining on the biological clock. While children penalize women in the labor market, we show that due to the biological clock an otherwise gender-neutral shock leads to a gender gap in the labor market.
Keywords: Globalization; Gender; Labor Market; Family Adjustments
JEL Codes: F16; F6; J12; J13; J16
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| import competition (L13) | childbirth rates among women (J13) |
| import competition (L13) | marriage rates among women (J12) |
| import competition (L13) | marriage likelihood among men (J12) |
| import competition (L13) | labor market penalties for women (J79) |
| negative labor market conditions (J63) | family priorities for women (J12) |
| import competition (L13) | gender-specific labor market outcomes (J79) |
| import competition (L13) | long-run labor market outcomes for women (J79) |
| labor demand shocks (J23) | labor market outcomes for genders (J79) |