Topic Gender

Personality and Career: She's Got What It Takes

The female share in management positions is quite low in Germany. The higher the hierarchical level, the fewer women there are in such positions. Men have numerous role models to follow whereas women lack this opportunity: In the executive boards of the top 200 private companies in Germany, only 2.5 percent of members are female. Many studies have focused on the influence of human capital and other ...

Can Child Care Policy Encourage Employment and Fertility? Evidence from a Structural Model

The Gender Pay Gap across Countries: A Human Capital Approach

The gender wage gap varies across countries. For example, among OECD nations women in Australia, Belgium, Italy and Sweden earn 80% as much as males, whereas in Austria, Canada and Japan women earn about 60%. Current studies examining cross-country differences focus on the impact of labor market institutions such as minimum wage laws and nationwide collective bargaining. However, these studies neglect ...

Marital Risk, Family Insurance, and Public Policy

The present paper aims to quantify the growth and welfare consequences of changing family structures in western societies. For this reason we develop a dynamic general equilibrium model with both genders which takes into account changes of the marital status as a stochastic process. Individuals respond to these shocks by adjusting savings and labor supply. Our quantitative results indicate that the ...

Risk Attitudes and Investment Decisions across European Countries: Are Women More Conservative Investors than Men?

This study questions the popular stereotype that women are more risk averse than men in their financial investment decisions. The analysis is based on micro-level data from large-scale surveys of private households in five European countries. In our analysis of investment decisions, we directly account for individuals' self-perceived willingness to take financial risks. The empirical evidence we provide ...

Gender Differences in Entrepreneurial Choice and Risk Aversion: A Decomposition Based on a Microeconometric Model

Why are female entrepreneurs so rare? Women have both to a lower entry rate into selfemployment and a higher exit rate in Germany. To explain the gender gap, a structural microeconometric model of the transition rates is estimated, which includes a standard risk aversion parameter. As inputs into the model, the expected value and variance of earnings from self-employment and dependent employment are ...

Entrepreneurs' Gender and Financial Constraints: Evidence from International Data

This paper examines whether financial institutions discriminate against entrepreneurs on the basis of gender. Using the cross-country Business Environment and Enterprise Performance Survey (BEEPS), we find some evidence that, compared to male-managed counterparts, female-managed firms are less likely to obtain a bank loan. In addition, our analysis suggests that female entrepreneurs are charged higher ...

The Role of Psychological Traits for the Gender Gap in Full-Time Employment and Wages: Evidence from Germany

This paper shows that differences in various non-cognitive traits, specifically the "big five", positive and negative reciprocity, locus of control and risk aversion, contribute to gender inequalities in wages and employment. Using the 2004 and 2005 waves of the German Socio-Economic Panel, evidence from regression and decomposition techniques suggests that gender differences in psychological traits ...

Female Labor Supply and Parental Leave Benefits: The Causal Effect of Paying Higher Transfers for a Shorter Period of Time

We study the labor supply effects of a change in child-subsidy policy designed to both increase fertility and shorten birth-related employment interruptions. The reform yields most of the intended effects.

Lohneinbußen durch geburtsbedingte Erwerbsunterbrechungen: fertilitätstheoretische Einordnung, Quantifizierung auf Basis von SOEP-Daten und familienpolitische Implikationen

Die hier referierte Untersuchung hat zum Ziel, die Auswirkungen von Erwerbsunterbrechungen von Frauen im Zusammenhang mit der Geburt ihres ersten Kindes auf die Lohnentwicklung der Frau in ihrem weiteren Erwerbsverlauf zu berechnen. Auf Basis dieser Ergebnisse sollen sowohl ein Erklärungsbeitrag zum Fertilitätsverhalten deutscher Frauen geleistet als auch Ansatzpunkte für familienpolitische Instrumente ...