Gender Roles and Technological Progress

58 Pages Posted: 29 May 2008

See all articles by Stefania Albanesi

Stefania Albanesi

New York University (NYU) - Leonard N. Stern School of Business; Columbia University, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, Department of Economics; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER); Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR)

Claudia Olivetti

Boston College; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

Multiple version iconThere are 2 versions of this paper

Date Written: June 2007

Abstract

Until the early decades of the 20th century, women spent more than 60% of their prime-age years either pregnant or nursing. Since then, the introduction of infant formula reduced women's comparative advantage in infant care, by providing an effective breast milk substitute. In addition, improved medical knowledge and obstetric practices reduced the time cost associated with women's reproductive role. We explore the hypothesis that these developments enabled married women to increase their participation in the labour force, thus providing the incentive to invest in market skills, which in turn reduced their earnings differential with respect to men. We document these changes and develop a quantitative model that aims to capture their impact. Our results suggest that progress in medical technologies related to motherhood was essential to generate a significant rise in the participation of married women between 1920 and 1950, in particular those with young children.

Keywords: Female labour force participation, gender earnings gap, medical progress

JEL Classification: E24, J13, J16, J21, J22, J31, N3

Suggested Citation

Albanesi, Stefania and Albanesi, Stefania and Olivetti, Claudia, Gender Roles and Technological Progress (June 2007). CEPR Discussion Paper No. DP6352, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1136678

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Claudia Olivetti

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