Immigration and the Evolution of Local Cultural Norms

Sophia Schmitz and Felix Weinhardt ()
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Sophia Schmitz: Federal Institute for Population Research

No 12509, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Abstract: We study the local evolution of cultural norms in West Germany in reaction to the sudden presence of East Germans who migrated to the West after reunification. These migrants grew up with very high rates of maternal employment, whereas West German families followed the traditional breadwinner-housewife model. We find that West German women increase their labor supply and that this holds within household. We provide additional evidence on stated gender norms, West-East friendships, intermarriage, and childcare infrastructure. The dynamic evolution of the local effects on labor supply is best explained by local cultural learning and endogenous childcare infrastructure.

Keywords: gender; local learning; cultural norms; immigration (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D1 J16 J21 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 70 pages
Date: 2019-07
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-eur, nep-evo, nep-gen, nep-int, nep-lab, nep-mig, nep-soc and nep-ure
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (16)

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Related works:
Working Paper: Immigration and the Evolution of Local Cultural Norms (2019)
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