Gender gaps and the rise of the service economy

Ngai, L. Rachel and Petrongolo, Barbara (2013) Gender gaps and the rise of the service economy. CEP Discussion Papers, CEPDP1204. Centre for Economic Performance, London School of Economics and Political Science, London, UK.

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Abstract

This paper explains the narrowing of gender gaps in wages and market hours in recent decades by the growth of the service economy. We propose a model with three sectors: goods, services and home production. Women have a comparative advantage in the production of services in the market and at home. The growth of the services sector, in turn driven by structural transformation and marketization of home services, acts as a gender-biased demand shift and leads to a rise in women’s wages and market hours relative to men. Quantitatively, the model accounts for an important share of the observed rise in women’s relative wage and market hours and the fall in men’s market hours.

Item Type:	Monograph (Discussion Paper)
Official URL:	http://cep.lse.ac.uk/_new/publications/series.asp?...
Additional Information:	© 2013 The Authors
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HD Industries. Land use. Labor H Social Sciences > HQ The family. Marriage. Woman
JEL classification:	E - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics > E2 - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment > E24 - Macroeconomics: Employment; Unemployment; Wages; Intergenerational Income Distribution (includes wage indexation) J - Labor and Demographic Economics > J1 - Demographic Economics > J16 - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination J - Labor and Demographic Economics > J2 - Time Allocation, Work Behavior, and Employment Determination and Creation; Human Capital; Retirement > J22 - Time Allocation and Labor Supply
Sets:	Departments > Economics Collections > Economists Online Research centres and groups > Centre for Economic Performance (CEP)
Series:	Working Papers > CEP Discussion Papers
Date Deposited:	08 Aug 2013 08:51
Last Modified:	08 Aug 2013 08:51
URI:	http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/51538

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