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Fueling the gender gap? Oil and women's labor and marriage market outcomes

Maurer, Stephan E. and Potlogea, Andrei (2014) Fueling the gender gap? Oil and women's labor and marriage market outcomes. CEP Discussion Papers (CEPDP1280). London School of Economics and Political Science. Centre for Economic Performance, London, UK.

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Abstract

This paper analyzes the effect of resource-based economic specialization on women's labor market outcomes. Using information on the location and discovery of major oil fields in the Southern United States coupled with a county-level panel derived from US Census data for 1900-1940, we specifically test the hypothesis that the presence of mineral resources can induce changes in the sectoral composition of the local economy that are detrimental to women's labor market outcomes. We find evidence that the discovery of oil at the county level may constitute a substantial male biased demand shock to local labor markets, as it is associated with a higher gender pay gap. However, we find no evidence that oil wealth lowers female labor force participation or has any impact on local marriage and fertility patterns. While our results are consistent with oil shocks limiting female labor market opportunities in some sectors (mainly manufacturing), this effect tends to be compensated by the higher availability of service sector jobs for women who are therefore not driven out of the labor market.

Item Type: Monograph (Discussion Paper)
Official URL: http://cep.lse.ac.uk/_new/publications/series.asp?...
Additional Information: © 2014 The Authors
Divisions: Centre for Economic Performance
Subjects: F History United States, Canada, Latin America > F001 United States local history
H Social Sciences > HC Economic History and Conditions
H Social Sciences > HD Industries. Land use. Labor
H Social Sciences > HQ The family. Marriage. Woman
JEL classification: J - Labor and Demographic Economics > J1 - Demographic Economics
N - Economic History > N5 - Agriculture, Natural Resources, Environment, and Extractive Industries
O - Economic Development, Technological Change, and Growth > O1 - Economic Development
R - Urban, Rural, and Regional Economics > R1 - General Regional Economics
Date Deposited: 28 Nov 2014 14:36
Last Modified: 15 Sep 2023 23:33
Funders: Economic and Social Research Council
URI: http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/60351

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