Gender identity and female labour supply in Brazil

Abstract

Over the last half-century, the role of women in society has changed substantially. However, the gender income gap and the difference in labour force participation persist. Akerlof and Kranton introduce the concept of identity from sociology and social psychology at the economic analysis; based on this we search less traditional factors for understanding this persistence. We extend the analysis proposed by Bertrand et al. for Brazil. Specifically, we analyse the impact of gender identity, focusing on the prescription that 'a man should earn more than his wife' on social and economic results. Based on the Censuses for 1991, 2000, and 2010 we observed that for only 7 per cent of married couples does the wife earn more than her husband. We found evidence that the wives with greater probability of earning more than their husbands are less likely to participate in the labour force. Once she does participate in the labour force, she has a higher probability of earning less than her potential income, working fewer hours, and having an informal job.

Gender identity and wives’ labor market outcomes in West and East Germany between 1983 and 2016

“…However, replications of their study return mixed results. Codazzi et al (2017) confirmed that wives in Brazil distort their labor market outcomes to maintain gender identity conformity. Yet, no discontinuity in the wife's share of income is found for Sweden (Hederos Eriksson & Stenberg, 2015), Finland or the U.S. (Binder & Lam, 2018;Zinovyeva & Tverdostup, 2018) after accounting for heaping issues at the 50 percent threshold.…”

“…Second, we present evidence suggesting that the prevalence of male breadwinning as gender prescription is shaped by a country's institutional system. Studies using the discontinuity test (Bertrand et al, 2015;Binder & Lam, 2018;Hederos Eriksson & Stenberg, 2015;Codazzi et al, 2017;Zinovyeva & Tverdostup, 2018) cannot isolate cultural from institutional effects on female labor market outcomes, because gender identity prescriptions are analyzed within a given political and statutory framework. Therefore, differences in prescriptions between countries might be a result of country-specific cultures as well as of welfare state characteristics and public policy, where specific relationships are difficult to disentangle (Nyman, Reinikainen, & Stocks, 2013;Pfau-Effinger, 2012).…”

Gender Identity and Wives' Labor Market Outcomes in West and East Germany between 1984 and 2016

“…However, replications of their study return mixed results. Codazzi et al (2017) confirmed that wives in Brazil distort their labor market outcomes to maintain gender identity conformity. Yet, no discontinuity in the wife's share of income is found for Sweden (Hederos Eriksson & Stenberg, 2015), Finland or the U.S. (Binder & Lam, 2018;Zinovyeva & Tverdostup, 2018) after accounting for heaping issues at the 50 percent threshold.…”

“…Second, we present evidence suggesting that the prevalence of male breadwinning as gender prescription is shaped by a country's institutional system. Studies using the discontinuity test (Bertrand et al, 2015;Binder & Lam, 2018;Hederos Eriksson & Stenberg, 2015;Codazzi et al, 2017;Zinovyeva & Tverdostup, 2018) cannot isolate cultural from institutional effects on female labor market outcomes, because gender identity prescriptions are analyzed within a given political and statutory framework. Therefore, differences in prescriptions between countries might be a result of country-specific cultures as well as of welfare state characteristics and public policy, where specific relationships are difficult to disentangle (Nyman, Reinikainen, & Stocks, 2013;Pfau-Effinger, 2012).…”