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Title: Cross-sectional Properties of Female Labor Force Participation: Theory and Data

Citation Type: Miscellaneous

Publication Year: 2003

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Abstract: Married female labor supply in terms of participation as well as hours worked has increased tremendously throughout the twentieth century. I show that one remarkable feature of this increase is that it has occurred simultaneously throughout their husbands income distribution. Then I study the cross sectional implications of two mechanismsthat have been proposed to explain the increase in marriedfemale labor supply, namely exogenous changes in the adjusted gender wage gap and falling prices of durables used in home production. When the exogenous gender wage gap decreases, female labor force participation increases independently of husbands income. However some additional heterogeneity is needed for the participation rate tobe interior. As the price of home durables falls, the aggregate participation rate increases continuously. This continuous increase however works itself through the income distribution from top to bottom, so that participation depends on husbands income.

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Authors: Schoonbroodt, Alice

Publisher: University of Minnesota

Data Collections: IPUMS USA

Topics: Gender, Labor Force and Occupational Structure

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