Does Gender Tagging Public Works Increase Women's Participation? Experimental Evidence from Haiti, Kenya, and Rwanda

Tanay Balantrapu, Paul Christian, Lelys Dinarte-Diaz, Felipe Dunsch, Jonas Heirman, Dahyeon Jeong, Erin Kelley, Florence Kondylis, Gregory Lane and John Loeser

AEA Papers and Proceedings, 2025, vol. 115, 318-23

Abstract: Public works programs often fail to induce participation by women in dual-headed households, with implications for closing gender gaps in autonomy. We randomize "gender tagging," labeling as "for women" in cash-for-work programs targeting poor households in Haiti, Kenya, and Rwanda. Gender tagging increases women's participation by 11 to 27 percentage points (29–192 percent) in contexts where women have low labor market attachment. We apply recent econometric methods to test heterogeneity across households to show that gender tagging generates catch-up: The women least likely to participate under the status quo program experience the largest increase in participation from gender tagging.

JEL-codes: H54 H76 J16 J22 O12 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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DOI: 10.1257/pandp.20251023

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