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 National Science
Foundation Award #0551524 |
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Collaborative Research: Understanding the Gender Gap in Earnings: Household Production, Market Production and Labor Contracts |
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| Investigator(s): |
Claudia Olivetti (PI)
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| Sponsor: |
Boston University, MA 02215 6173534365
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| Start Date/Expiration Date |
2006-03-01 to 2007-02-28 (amended 2006-03-07) |
| Awarded Amount to Date: |
$59,616 |
| Abstract: The purpose of this project is to study the joint determination of gender differences in labor
market outcomes and the division of labor within the household. The PI's analysis is based on two sets of empirical observations. First, there are persistent gender differences in "adjusted" labor
earnings and hours worked, at home and on the market. Second, there is a large variation in
gender earnings differentials across industries and occupations. The PI's explore the hypothesis that these differentials arise endogenously from the interaction between the intra-household allocation process and labor contracting between firms and workers.
The PI's propose that incentive problems on the labor market, due to private information on
household decisions, play a crucial role in the emergence of unequal labor market outcomes
across genders. In turn, the differential labor market outcomes influence gender roles within the
household, thus generating a feedback mechanism. The presence of incentive problems implies
that the earnings structure, as well as the earnings level, should be different across genders. The PI's preliminary empirical work with aggregate data is broadly consistent with this hypothesis. The
proposed new work will extend the analysis in a number of directions. Theoretically, the PI's plan to
use their framework to evaluate how technological progress in home production may influence
gender differences in labor market outcomes and the household division of labor. Empirically, the PI's plan to use micro data to directly evaluate the predictions regarding the interaction between the
labor market and the household, as well as the predictions on the earnings structure by gender.
Intellectual Merit
The intended contribution of this project is twofold. The PI's propose the first, to their knowledge,
equilibrium model of the feedback between the gender division of labor within the household and
gender differences in labor market outcomes. Typically, supply side theories have been used to
explain gender differences in earnings and employment and their evolution over time. These take
as given the division of labor within the household and emphasize its role in causing unequal
labor market outcomes. By contrast, in our framework, gender roles are endogenous. The
centerpiece of their hypothesis is to identify the incentive problem in labor contracting as a source
of statistical discrimination on the basis of gender.
The PI's are also the first to rationalize the large variance in gender earnings and employment
differentials across industries and occupations. The variation in the severity of incentive problems
across industries and occupations can be related to differences in the earnings structure and home
hours by gender, and within households across spouses. The proposed empirical analysis will use
matched household and earnings data to directly evaluate these predictions.
Broader Impacts
The results of this research will potentially be of interest not only to economists, but also to
sociologists, as well as to policymakers. One important implication of the PI's framework is that
gender equality on the labor market is intimately linked to equality in the household division of
labor. Policies aimed at reducing gender disparities in earning opportunities are likely to fail if
they do not include provisions to reduce the expected contribution of women to home production.
The research will also be integrated with the PI's teaching, especially at the graduate level. It
is expected that graduate research assistants will be introduced to important research skills and
potential research topics to develop on their own. |
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| NSF Org: |
SES - Division of Social and Economic Sciences |
| Award Number: |
0551524 |
| Award Instrument: |
Continuing grant |
| Program Manager: |
Daniel H. Newlon
SES Division of Social and Economic Sciences
SBE Directorate for Social, Behavioral & Economic Sciences
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| NSF Program(s): |
ECONOMICS |
| Field Application(s): |
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| Program Reference Code(s): |
UNASSIGNED, 0000 |
| Program Element Code(s): |
1320 |
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