Motherhood and the Allocation of Talent

Inés Berniell, Lucila Berniell, Dolores de la Mata, María Edo, Yarine Fawaz, Matilde Machado () and Mariana Marchionni

No 1861, Research Department working papers from CAF Development Bank Of Latinamerica

Abstract: In this paper we show that motherhood triggers changes in the allocation of talent in the labor market beyond the well-known effects on gender gaps in employment and earnings. We use an event study approach with retrospective data for 29 countries drawn from SHARE to assess the labor market responses to motherhood across “talent” groups, i.e. groups with different educational attainment, relative performance in math by the age of 10, and personality traits. We find that while even the most talented women—both in absolute terms and relative to their husbands—leave the labor market or uptake part-time jobs after the birth of the first child, all men, including the least talented, stay employed. We also find that motherhood induces a negative selection of talents into self-employment. Although these results are observed in all 29 countries, there is some heterogeneity in the magnitude of the motherhood effects. We find larger motherhood effects in countries with more conservative social norms and, to a less extent, with weaker policies regarding worklife balance. Overall, our results suggest relevant changes in the allocation of talent caused by gender differences in nonmarket responsibilities that can have sizable impacts on aggregate market productivity.

Keywords: Economía; Familia; Investigación socioeconómica; Mujer; Niñez (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-dem
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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https://scioteca.caf.com/handle/123456789/1861

Related works:
Working Paper: Motherhood and the Allocation of Talent (2021)
Working Paper: Motherhood and the Allocation of Talent (2020)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:dbl:dblwop:1861

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