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Law, Economics, and Culture: Theory of Mandated Benefits and Evidence from Maternity Leave Policies

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  • Yehonatan Givati
  • Ugo Troiano

Abstract

Why do some countries mandate a long maternity leave, while others mandate only a short one? We incorporate into a standard mandated-benefit model social tolerance of gender-based discrimination, showing that the optimal length of maternity leave depends on it. The less tolerant a society is of gender-based discrimination, the longer the maternity leave it will mandate. Relying on recent research in psychology and linguistics according to which patterns in languages offer a window into their speakers' dispositions, we collected new data on the number of gender-differentiated personal pronouns across languages to capture societies' attitudes toward gender-based discrimination. We first confirm, using within-country language variation, that our linguistic measure is correlated with attitudes toward gender-based discrimination. Then, using cross-country data on length of maternity leave, while controlling for other parameters, we find a strong correlation between our language-based measure of attitudes and the length of maternity leave.

Suggested Citation

  • Yehonatan Givati & Ugo Troiano, 2012. "Law, Economics, and Culture: Theory of Mandated Benefits and Evidence from Maternity Leave Policies," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 55(2), pages 339-364.
    • Handle: RePEc:ucp:jlawec:doi:10.1086/663632
    DOI: 10.1086/663632
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    Cited by:

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    2. Ugo Troiano & Giacomo Ponzetto, 2012. "Social Capital, Government Expenditures, and Growth," 2012 Meeting Papers 1048, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    3. Diana M. Hechavarría & Siri A. Terjesen & Pekka Stenholm & Malin Brännback & Stefan Lång, 2018. "More than Words: Do Gendered Linguistic Structures Widen the Gender Gap in Entrepreneurial Activity?," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 42(5), pages 797-817, September.
    4. Amir Shoham & Jedrzej George Frynas & Ahmad Arslan & Ofra Bazel-Shoham & Sang Mook Lee & Zaheer Khan & Shlomo Tarba, 2024. "The interrelationships between corporate political activity and corporate environmental performance: the role of language diversity," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 55(9), pages 1204-1217, December.
    5. Bazel-Shoham, Ofra & Lee, Sang Mook & Rivera, Michael J. & Shoham, Amir, 2020. "Impact of the female board members and gaps in linguistic gender marking on cross-border M&A," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 55(2).
    6. Brollo, Fernanda & Troiano, Ugo, 2016. "What happens when a woman wins an election? Evidence from close races in Brazil," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 122(C), pages 28-45.
    7. Albanesi, Stefania & Olivetti, Claudia & Petrongolo, Barbara, 2022. "Families, labor markets and policy," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 118038, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    8. Jakiela,Pamela & Ozier,Owen, 2018. "Gendered language," Policy Research Working Paper Series 8464, The World Bank.
    9. Beblo, Miriam & Görges, Luise & Markowsky, Eva, 2020. "Gender Matters in Language and Economic Behaviour: Can we Measure a Causal Cognition Effect of Speaking?," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    10. Drori, Israel & Manos, Ronny & Santacreu-Vasut, Estefania & Shenkar, Oded & Shoham, Amir, 2018. "Language and market inclusivity for women entrepreneurship: the case of microfinance," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 33(4), pages 395-415.
    11. Troiano, Ugo A., 2018. "Labor Market Attitudes and Experienced Political Institutions," MPRA Paper 83927, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    12. Oasis Kodila‐Tedika & Sherif Khalifa, 2020. "Long‐term vision and economic development," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 43(11), pages 3088-3102, November.
    13. Mingzhi Hu & Zhongfeng Su & Wenping Ye, 2023. "The future-time reference of home-country language and immigrant self-employment: an imprinting perspective," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 60(2), pages 521-535, February.
    14. Yehonatan Givati, 2014. "Legal Institutions and Social Values: Theory and Evidence from Plea Bargaining Regimes," Journal of Empirical Legal Studies, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 11(4), pages 867-893, December.
    15. Astghik Mavisakalyan & Clas Weber, 2018. "Linguistic Structures And Economic Outcomes," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(3), pages 916-939, July.
    16. Bazel-Shoham, Ofra & Lee, Sang Mook & Ahammad, Mohammad Faisal & Tarba, Shlomo Y. & Alon, Ilan, 2023. "IP protection and ownership in cross-border acquisitions," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 32(3).
    17. Bozzano, Monica & Profeta, Paola & Puglisi, Riccardo & Scabrosetti, Simona, 2024. "Women’s voice on redistribution: From gender equality to equalizing taxation," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    18. Canaan, Serena & Lassen, Anne Sophie & Rosenbaum, Philip & Steingrimsdottir, Herdis, 2022. "Maternity Leave and Paternity Leave: Evidence on the Economic Impact of Legislative Changes in High Income Countries," IZA Discussion Papers 15129, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    19. Hicks, Daniel L. & Santacreu-Vasut, Estefania & Shoham, Amir, 2015. "Does mother tongue make for women's work? Linguistics, household labor, and gender identity," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 110(C), pages 19-44.

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