Gender Roles and Medical Progress / Stefania Albanesi, Claudia Olivetti.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Albanesi, Stefania.

Contributor:

National Bureau of Economic Research.

Olivetti, Claudia.

Series:

Working Paper Series (National Bureau of Economic Research) no. w14873.

NBER working paper series no. w14873

Language:

English

Physical Description:

1 online resource: illustrations (black and white);

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, Mass. National Bureau of Economic Research 2009.

Summary:

The entry of married women into the labor force is one of the most notable economic phenomena of the twentieth century. We argue that medical progress played a critical role in this process. Improved maternal health alleviated the adverse effects of pregnancy and childbirth on women's ability to work, while the introduction of infant formula reduced mothers' comparative advantage in infant feeding. We construct economic measures of these two dimensions of medical progress and develop a quantitative model that aims to capture their impact. Our results suggests that these advances, by enabling women to reconcile work and motherhood, were essential for the rise in married women's participation and the evolution of their economic role.

Notes:

Print version record

April 2009.