Mining and Traditional Masculinity Norms

Abebe Hailemariam, Erica Lukas, Astghik Mavisakalyan and Jacqui True

No 1742, GLO Discussion Paper Series from Global Labor Organization (GLO)

Abstract: This paper examines the effect of proximity to mining activity on men's adherence to traditional masculinity norms. Combining geocoded survey data with detailed spatial information on mining activity across 37 countries, we employ an instrumental variable strategy that exploits exogenous variation in geological mineral endowments and global commodity prices to address endogeneity concerns. We find that residing within 20 km of an active mine increases conformity to traditional masculinity norms approximately by 0.29 points on a four-point scale. The effects are concentrated in the violence and help avoidance dimensions, indicating that men living near active mines display greater tolerance of aggression and stronger resistance to help-seeking - traits closely aligned with the masculine culture of extractive workplaces. Heterogeneity analyses further show that these effects are strongest among lower-educated, unmarried, and older men. The results are robust to an alternative difference-in-differences identification strategy comparing areas near active versus inactive mines and to the use of an alternative measure of traditional gender role attitudes as the outcome variable. The analysis of mechanisms suggests that mining proximity increases male employment in the extractive sector while reducing female labor force participation in surrounding communities. These findings provide new insights into how extractive industries can shape and reinforce traditional masculinity norms in mining communities.

Keywords: Mining; Conformity to Masculine Norms Inventory; Gender Norms; Gender Equality; Sustainable Development Goal 5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J16 J24 O13 Q33 Z13 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-dev, nep-gen, nep-lab, nep-lma and nep-soc
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/339996/1/GLO-DP-1742.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:zbw:glodps:1742

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in GLO Discussion Paper Series from Global Labor Organization (GLO) Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics ().