Gender Norms and Female Labor Supply: Evidence from Export Shocks in Vietnam

Quynh Huynh and Hyejin Ku
Additional contact information
Quynh Huynh: Univsersity College London

No 2516, RFBerlin Discussion Paper Series from Rockwool Foundation Berlin (RF Berlin)

Abstract: We examine the relationship between economic development and female labor force participation, with a focus on the impact of gender norms. Analyzing quasi-random variation in provincial exports in reunified Vietnam from 2002 to 2018, we find that a positive economic shock led to a significant decline in women’s labor market engagement, particularly among married women from wealthier households and those with husbands in more skilled occupations. This trend is more pronounced in the South (formerly capitalist) than in the North (always socialist), and among native Southerners compared to Northerners relocated to the South after the war. Our findings highlight the importance of gender role attitudes in shaping women’s responses to rising incomes.

Keywords: female labor force participation; social norms; gender role attitudes; income andsubstitution effects; trade liberalization (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J16 J22 O12 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025-05
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-dev, nep-lab, nep-soc and nep-tra
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.rfberlin.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/25016.pdf (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:crm:wpaper:2516

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in RFBerlin Discussion Paper Series from Rockwool Foundation Berlin (RF Berlin) Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Moritz Lubczyk () and Matthew Nibloe ().