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The society gendered equilibrium: in search for an economic rationale

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  • Osório, António (António Miguel)
Abstract
Several occupations are male-dominated while others are women-dominated. This paper attempts to establish an economic rationale behind it. In this paper, women have greater difficulty to conciliate the labor market with the household and for that reason have a higher cost of effort. We found that when the marginal cost of effort is increasing, production is organized in competitive ways in which men have a lower cost of effort advantage, and economic forces push men towards those more competitive and higher paying occupations. On the other hand, when the marginal cost of effort is decreasing, production is organized in less competitive ways, and the economic forces push women towards those less competitive and lower paying occupations. Keywords: Gender equality; Occupational segregation; Effort cost; Stereotypes; Economic incentives. JEL classification: J16, J30, D63, C72.

Suggested Citation

  • Osório, António (António Miguel), 2021. "The society gendered equilibrium: in search for an economic rationale," Working Papers 2072/534913, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Department of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:urv:wpaper:2072/534913
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Igualtat entre els sexes; Discriminació sexual en el treball; 331 - Treball. Relacions laborals. Ocupació. Organització del treball;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
    • J30 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - General
    • D63 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Equity, Justice, Inequality, and Other Normative Criteria and Measurement
    • C72 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Game Theory and Bargaining Theory - - - Noncooperative Games

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