Working Paper: NBER ID: w8797
Authors: Richard B. Freeman; Ronald Schettkat
Abstract: Women work much more in the US than in Germany and most other EU economies. We find that the US-German employment gap is not strongly related to cross-country differences in the level of pay or social benefits. The difference in employment is due to the different marketization of activities between the two economies: German women work as many hours as US women when we consider time spent in household production as well as in market production. For instance, German women spend more time preparing meals while US women use take-out and restaurants more intensely. The organization of some social activities, such as schooling, and the dispersion of skills, as well as pay differences, affect the degree of marketization.
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JEL Codes: No JEL codes provided
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| Household production in Germany (D13) | Lower demand for low-skilled labor in Germany (J69) |
| Greater household production in Germany (D13) | Lower employment rate in Germany (J69) |
| Greater marketization in the US (P19) | Higher demand for low-skilled labor (J69) |
| Differences in marketization (F61) | Employment gap between US and Germany (J69) |
| Lower labor market participation in Germany (J29) | Lower employment-population rate in Germany (J69) |
| Higher employment rates in service sectors in the US (J68) | Overall employment gap (J79) |