Integration Costs and Missing Women in Firms around the World
AEA Papers and Proceedings
vol. 112,
May 2022
(pp. 578-82)
Abstract
Where social norms favor gender segregation, firms may find it costly to employ both men and women. If the costs of integration are largely fixed, firms will integrate only if their expected number of female employees under integration exceeds some threshold. We use the distribution of female employment to estimate the share of firms with binding integration costs. Using global survey data, we find evidence for these binding integration costs in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) and South Asia but not in other regions. We also show that the intensity of gender segregation preferences is correlated with these integration costs in the MENA region.Citation
Miller, Conrad, Jennifer Peck, and Mehmet Seflek. 2022. "Integration Costs and Missing Women in Firms around the World." AEA Papers and Proceedings, 112: 578-82. DOI: 10.1257/pandp.20221084Additional Materials
JEL Classification
- D22 Firm Behavior: Empirical Analysis
- J16 Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
- J23 Labor Demand
- O15 Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration