Gender Norms and the Labor Market

Patricia Cortes, Jisoo Hwang, Jessica Pan and Uta Schönberg
Authors registered in the RePEc Author Service: Uta Schoenberg

No 34716, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

Abstract: Despite substantial convergence in men’s and women’s economic roles, gender gaps in labor market outcomes persist across countries. This article provides a unified framework for understanding how gender norms shape economic behavior, distinguishing between internalized norms—preferences and beliefs tied to gender identity—and external norms arising from peer pressure and social coordination. We first document cross-country and within-country variation in gender attitudes, alongside gradual but uneven shifts toward more egalitarian views. We then review empirical evidence on the origins, persistence, and transmission of gender norms, and their effects on human capital accumulation, labor supply, wages, and policy take-up. The review highlights both the durability of gender norms and the mechanisms through which policies, institutions, and media can induce norm change, with implications for the design of effective interventions.

JEL-codes: J16 J22 J24 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026-01
Note: LS
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.nber.org/papers/w34716.pdf (application/pdf)
Access to the full text is generally limited to series subscribers, however if the top level domain of the client browser is in a developing country or transition economy free access is provided. More information about subscriptions and free access is available at http://www.nber.org/wwphelp.html. Free access is also available to older working papers.

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:nbr:nberwo:34716

Ordering information: This working paper can be ordered from
http://www.nber.org/papers/w34716
The price is Paper copy available by mail.

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc National Bureau of Economic Research, 1050 Massachusetts Avenue Cambridge, MA 02138, U.S.A.. Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by ().