Effects of Reduced Educational Opportunities on Labor Market Outcomes: Evidence from Female College Restrictions

Safoura Moeeni and Feng Wei

Economic Development and Cultural Change, 2026, vol. 75, issue 1, 251 - 308

Abstract: We use the 2012 gender-based education quota in Iran to examine how restricting women’s access to higher education affects labor market outcomes. We implement a regression discontinuity design that exploits birth-month variation in policy exposure. The quota reduced women’s college enrollment and shifted their educational trajectories. As a result, female high school graduates entered the labor market at higher rates and experienced modest wage gains, partly through occupational upgrading. In contrast, college-educated women faced weaker employment outcomes due to shifts in choice of major. Our findings highlight how constraints on educational opportunities reshape labor supply, occupational sorting, and gender inequality in the labor market.

Date: 2026
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