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The Welfare-Enhancing Role of Parental Leave Mandates

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  • Spencer Bastani
  • Tomer Blumkin
  • Luca Micheletto

Abstract

A major factor that contributes to persistent gender variation in labor market outcomes is women’s traditional role in the household. Child-related absences from work imply that women accumulate less job experience, are more prone to career discontinuities and, hence, suffer a motherhood penalty. We highlight how the gender-driven career/family segmentation of the labor market may create a normative justification for parental leave rules as a means to enhance efficiency in the labor market and alleviate the gender wage gap.

Suggested Citation

  • Spencer Bastani & Tomer Blumkin & Luca Micheletto, 2019. "The Welfare-Enhancing Role of Parental Leave Mandates," The Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization, Oxford University Press, vol. 35(1), pages 77-126.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:jleorg:v:35:y:2019:i:1:p:77-126.
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1093/jleo/ewy021
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Francesca Barigozzi & Helmuth Cremer & Emmanuel Thibault, 2024. "The motherhood wage and income traps," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 37(4), pages 1-26, December.
    2. Spencer Bastani & Tomer Blumkin & Luca Micheletto, 2021. "Optimal Redistribution in the Presence of Signaling," CESifo Working Paper Series 9210, CESifo.
    3. Siew Ling Yew & Shuyun May Li & Solmaz Moslehi, 2024. "Optimal parental leave subsidization with endogenous fertility and growth," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 62(1), pages 97-125, January.
    4. Miyazaki, Koichi, 2023. "Efficiency-enhancing role of mandatory leave policy in a search-theoretic model of the labor market," MPRA Paper 116614, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    5. Tomer Blumkin & Spencer Bastani & Luca Micheletto, 2024. "Rethinking Commodity Taxation: The New StatusRedistribution Channel," Working Papers 2412, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Department of Economics.
    6. Bastani, Spencer & Blumkin, Tomer & Micheletto, Luca, 2024. "Optimal redistribution and education signaling," Working Paper Series 2024:8, IFAU - Institute for Evaluation of Labour Market and Education Policy.
    7. Spencer Bastani & Thomas Giebe & Oliver Gürtler, 2023. "Overconfidence and Gender Equality in the Labor Market," ECONtribute Discussion Papers Series 220, University of Bonn and University of Cologne, Germany.
    8. Del Rey, Elena & Racionero, Maria & Silva, Jose I., 2024. "Employer vs government parental leave: Labour market effects," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 136(C).
    9. Tomer Blumkin & Spencer Bastani & Luca Micheletto, 2024. "Optimal redistribution and education signaling," Working Papers 2413, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Department of Economics.
    10. Del Rey, Elena & Racionero, Maria & Silva, Jose I., 2021. "Labour market effects of reducing the gender gap in parental leave entitlements," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    11. Alessandra Casarico & Elena Del Rey & Jose I. Silva, 2023. "Child care costs, household liquidity constraints, and gender inequality," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 36(3), pages 1461-1487, July.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • D82 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Asymmetric and Private Information; Mechanism Design
    • H21 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Efficiency; Optimal Taxation
    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials
    • J83 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor Standards - - - Workers' Rights

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