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Wind of Change? Cultural Determinants of Maternal Labor Supply

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Listed:
  • Barbara Boelmann

    (University of Cologne)

  • Uta Schoenberg

    (HKU Business School)

  • Anna Raute

    (Queen Mary University of London)

Abstract

We investigate the role of cultural norms in shaping women’s labor supply decisions after childbirth. Specifically, we are interested in the interplay between childhood socialization and adulthood environment. To that end, we leverage the setting of the German reunification when East Germany’s gender egalitarian culture induced by socialism and West Germany’s more traditional culture were brought together. We find that East German gender norms are persistent whereas West German ones are not. West German mothers adjust their behavior to that of their East German peers not only when immersed in East German environment but even after returning to the West.

Suggested Citation

  • Barbara Boelmann & Uta Schoenberg & Anna Raute, 2024. "Wind of Change? Cultural Determinants of Maternal Labor Supply," RF Berlin - CReAM Discussion Paper Series 2409, Rockwool Foundation Berlin (RF Berlin) - Centre for Research and Analysis of Migration (CReAM).
    • Handle: RePEc:crm:wpaper:2409
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    Cited by:

    1. Joanna Tyrowicz & Lucas van der Velde, 2017. "When the opportunity knocks: large structural shocks and gender wage gaps," GRAPE Working Papers 2, GRAPE Group for Research in Applied Economics.
    2. Moriconi, Simone & Rodríguez-Planas, Núria, 2021. "Gender Norms and the Motherhood Employment Gap," IZA Discussion Papers 14898, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    3. Daniel Goller & Tamara Harrer & Michael Lechner & Joachim Wolff, 2021. "Active labour market policies for the long-term unemployed: New evidence from causal machine learning," Papers 2106.10141, arXiv.org, revised May 2023.
    4. Joanna Tyrowicz & Lucas Augusto van der Velde, 2021. "When Opportunity Knocks: Confronting Theory and Empirics About Dynamics of Gender Wage Inequality," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 155(3), pages 837-864, June.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    gender gaps; cultural persistence; cultural adoption; maternal labor force participation; German reunification;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J1 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics
    • J2 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor
    • Z1 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics

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