Women make houses, women make homes

Mevlude Akbulut-Yuksel, Melanie Khamis and Mutlu Yuksel

Labour Economics, 2017, vol. 49, issue C, 145-161

Abstract: This paper examines the persistent effects of historical labor market institutions and policies on women's long-term labor market outcomes. We quantify these enduring effects by exploring quasi-experimental variation in Germany's post-World War II mandatory reconstruction policy, which compelled women to work in the rubble removal and reconstruction process. Using difference-in-differences and instrumental variable approaches, we find that mandatory employment during the postwar era generated persistent adverse effects on women's long-term labor market outcomes. An increase in marriage and fertility rates in the postwar era and a physical and mental exhaustion associated with manual labor are some of the direct and indirect channels potentially explaining our results.

Keywords: Historical institutions; Female labor supply; Occupational choice (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J16 J24 N34 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:labeco:v:49:y:2017:i:c:p:145-161

DOI: 10.1016/j.labeco.2017.05.004

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