NAME- KRIPA SHANKAR GUJARATI PLAGIARISM- 7%

PRN- 1212220096

Indian Economics Assignment

Claudia Goldin's Nobel Price winning research
Women in workforce and wage gap

Abstract:
Claudia Goldin won the 2023 Nobel Prize in Economics for her work on the gender wage gap
and women's role at work. In this article, I will explain what her research on gender economics
involves, summarize four of Dr. Goldin's important papers, provide a historical background to
the field, talk about her education and career, and touch on some criticisms she has faced. The
goal is to make Dr. Goldin's complex research easier to understand and present it in an
interesting and readable way.

Introduction:
In recent times, the topic of women's involvement in the workforce and the disparity in pay
between men and women has gained significant attention. The persistence of differences in
employment, wages, and rights between genders has intrigued social science researchers as
society continues to progress. Conducting further research in this area is crucial as it can help
promote gender equality, social advancement, and better overall health and well-being. This
subset of gender economics is the primary focus of the 2023 Nobel Prize Winner Claudia Goldin.
Research in this field has the potential to shape new government policies, corporate
management strategies, and increase public awareness of this important issue. Promoting
equality for women in the workplace is globally significant, as it not only benefits the economy
but is also a fundamental principle of a modern and progressive society where every individual,
irrespective of gender, class, race, or belief, is treated equally and given the same opportunities.
According to the Nobel Prize's official website, Claudia Goldin has been recognized for her
extensive research on women's earnings and their participation in the labor market across
different historical periods. Her work has provided insights into the factors that drive changes
and contribute to the remaining differences between genders. Claudia Goldin's Nobel Prize does
not stem from a single paper but from her collective research on women in the workforce over
the years. Her papers cover topics such as how women's earnings change over their lifetime, the
evolving role of women in the workforce spanning the past 200 years, the impact of parenthood
on mothers' and fathers' earnings, the journey of women achieving equal rights at work, and an
analysis of the gender wage gap. Through her research, we have gained valuable knowledge
about historical trends in women's employment and the various factors that contribute to the
persistence or elimination of the gender wage gap.

Summary of her researches:

The papers being examined here utilize intricate regression analyses that involve multiple
interconnected variables. Dr. Goldin frequently relies on longitudinal surveys like NLSY79 and
HRS to gather data for her research.

1. In the paper 'When the Kids Grow Up: Women’s Employment and Earnings Across the
Family Cycle' (Goldin et al., 2022), the writers look at what happens to women's jobs when their
children grow up and need less attention, eventually leaving home. They study information from
the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 79, sorting people into four groups: men who
graduated from college, women who graduated from college, men who didn't go to college, and
women who didn't go to college. They aim to figure out which parts of the difference in
earnings between men and women are because of having a family and which parts are because
of dissimilarities between men and women regardless of having children.

Findings:
(i) Moms with young kids (0 to 2 years) worked around 3.5 weeks less every year compared to
dads with those kids.

(ii) From their late twenties to late thirties, moms with college degrees and kids work about
seven hours less each week, about one day less per week.

(iii) They measured the 'motherhood penalty' by comparing the earnings of moms to women
without kids.

(iv) The difference in earnings between parents was much more significant than the
motherhood penalty, which is the penalty for being a mom added to the price of being a
woman (the unexplained difference in wages between genders), minus the benefit for being a
dad.

(v) The difference in earnings between parents was very high when the kids were young, and it
didn't reduce much even after the youngest child finished high school.

(vi) As the children grow up, the motherhood penalty becomes small, but dads still have a
significant advantage, which increases with age, especially for parents with college degrees.

(vii) The advantage for dads makes up about 40% of the difference in earnings between parents
for those with college degrees. For those without college degrees, it's only 25% of the total gap.

2. The article 'Women Working Longer: Facts and Some Explanations' (Goldin, Katz,
2017) looks into why more women in the United States started working in their fifties and
sixties during the late 1980s and why this declined in the 2000s due to an economic downturn.
Some things hint that working at older ages might stop or go down, but other things seem to
suggest the opposite, which leads to the conclusion that women will probably work even more
as they get older.

Findings:
(i) People who really liked their jobs when they were younger kept working for a long time when
they were older, no matter how much they worked or earned back then.

(ii) For women between 60 and 64 years old, the number of those working went up from 34 to
51 percent in the last 25 years, and from 45 to 61 percent for women with college degrees.

(iii) More older women are working full-time and the whole year compared to before.

(iv) More married couples are now working together rather than retiring together, while 20
years ago, more couples were both retired.

3. In the paper 'The Expanding Gender Earnings Gap: Evidence from the LEHD-2000
Census' (Goldin et al., 2017), the writers study how the difference in wages between men and
women changes as people get older.

Findings:
(i) For people with college degrees, the difference in pay between men and women gets 34 log
points bigger from when they're 26 to 39 years old, mostly happening in the first seven years.

(ii) About 44 percent of the gap getting bigger is because men are more likely to get jobs that
pay more, work in industries that pay more, and work for companies that pay more. About 56
percent is because of men getting promoted more than women in companies.

(iii) The gap gets bigger more for married people and for those in certain kinds of jobs.

(iv) People who finished high school but didn't go to college see the gap get a bit bigger, but the
way it happens is similar.

4. In the paper 'The New Life Cycle of Women’s Employment: Disappearing Humps,
Sagging Middles, Expanding Tops' (Goldin, Mitchell, 2017), they talk about how the work life of
women in the United States has changed. Before the 1950s, women's work life was like an
upside-down U - they started working a lot in their twenties, continued until their late forties,
then slowed down in their early fifties. But now, it's more like it sags in the middle - they work a
lot right after they finish their education, slow down in their thirties and early forties, pick up
again for a bit, then slow down again when they reach their sixties and beyond.

Findings:
(i) The most important thing is that more and more groups of women are starting to work.

(ii) One big reason is that wages that are adjusted for inflation are going up, and it's getting
more important to pick a job based on how much you get paid and less important to pick a job
based on how much you need the money.

(iii) Later on, young women in the late 1960s and 1970s started to think more realistically about
their future jobs and started to invest in education that could lead to longer and more satisfying
careers.

(iv) The "quiet revolution" that happened made even more women start working.

(v) Because young women could now choose when they wanted to have kids (thanks to the
birth control pill), they got married later, and they waited to have kids.

(vi) They had kids when they were older, so having kids didn't affect their jobs and careers as
much.
Background from the past:
Claudia is not the first one to study women working. People have been researching this since
the 1900s. Let's quickly look at how the research changed over time. The breakdown by era is
like this:

Early to mid 20th century:

(i) In the beginning, people mostly studied how women worked during wars, especially in World
War I and II. Lots of women started working to take the jobs of men who were fighting.

(ii) After World War II, they started thinking of women as a "backup" workforce, saying that they
would only work for a while and that it was connected to their families and if they were
married.

(iii) During this time, studies often supported the idea that men and women should do different
jobs, with women expected to stop working when they got married or had kids.

1960s-1970s:
(i) In the 1960s and 1970s, things started to change because of the feminist movement and the
attention to women's rights.

(ii) Research began to look more at the things that made it hard for women to work, like not
getting good jobs, being treated unfairly, and not being paid the same as men.

(iii) Important books like Betty Friedan's "The Feminine Mystique" (1963) and the Equal Pay Act
in the United States in 1963 made more people interested in women's work issues.

(iv) Studies also started to look at how women working changed families and what people
thought about women working.

1980s-1990s:
(i) During this time, people started to look more at how work and family life fit together, so they
started studying things like how to balance work and family, taking care of children, and making
work more family-friendly.

(ii) They also talked about the idea of women having to do both their job and the housework,
which they called the "second shift" or "double burden."

(iii) Research also looked at why it was hard for women to get top jobs, why there were so few
women leaders, and why men were paid more than women.

2000s-Present:
(i) Current research still looks at how men and women are treated differently at work, focusing
on things like making sure everyone feels included and tackling problems like bullying in the
workplace.

(ii) Scholars are studying how things like technology, remote work, and gig jobs affect women's
opportunities to work.

(iii) Research is also trying to understand how empowering women, giving them more
education, and changing the rules can affect how many of them work.

(iv) There's a big focus on intersectionality, which means thinking about how things like race,
ethnicity, and how much money you have affect how men and women are treated differently.

(v) The COVID-19 pandemic has led to research on how it affected women's jobs more than
men's, and what that means for how many women work.

Throughout all these different times in history, research on how many women work has helped
make changes in the rules, the way people think, and helped make things more equal between
men and women.

Biogrphical Informtion:
Claudia Goldin was born on November 27, 1946, in New York City, USA. She is a well-known
American economist recognized for her extensive research in the fields of labor economics,
gender economics, and economic history. Her work has been particularly focused on
understanding the differences in pay between men and women and how women's roles in the
workplace have changed over time. She received her Bachelor's degree in Economics from
Cornell University in 1967 and later completed her Ph.D. in Economics at the University of
Chicago in 1972. Currently, she holds the position of Henry Lee Professor of Economics at
Harvard University. For many years, she has been a part of Harvard University, working as a
professor in the Department of Economics and leading the Development of the American
Economy Program at the National Bureau of Economic Research.
Controversies or Critiques:
Similar to any well-known researcher, Dr. Goldin has encountered her share of disapproval over
time. Below are some general topics of the criticisms she has received regarding her research:

(i) Mathematical Techniques: Some researchers have questioned the mathematical methods
employed in Goldin's research. These critiques often revolve around the selection of factors,
modeling strategies, or the interpretation of outcomes. Such discussions about methodologies
are common in scholarly investigations.

(ii) Cause and Effect: The issue of cause and effect in the connection between educational
selections, career choices, and the gender pay gap has been a topic of debate. Critics have
raised inquiries about the causal processes behind the patterns uncovered in her research.

(iii) Applicability: Critics have contended that a few of Goldin's discoveries, especially those
based on U.S. data, might not completely apply to other nations or regions with distinct labor
market dynamics and cultural backgrounds.

(iv) Policy Suggestions: Goldin's recommendations for policies to address the gender wage gap,
often stressing the significance of adaptable work arrangements, have been met with both
support and doubt. Some argue that broader policy adjustments, like support for childcare and
anti-discrimination measures, are equally or more vital.

(v) Skills Evaluation: Discussions have emerged about how skills and job responsibilities are
gauged in the context of her research, particularly concerning the concept of "female-friendly
jobs" and the valuation of skills over time.

Conclusion:
Claudia Goldin has dedicated her career to examining various economic aspects of the lives of
American women, and her contributions have been widely recognized. Researchers like her,
who are dedicated and talented, deserve to be acknowledged for their exceptional and unique
contributions to their respective fields.

Goldin's research has significantly enhanced our understanding of the gender wage gap. She has
illustrated that a significant part of the gap can be linked to differences in how men and women
make choices about their careers and families, particularly regarding education and job
segregation. Her research underscores the significance of education and human capital in
explaining women's economic outcomes. Goldin has demonstrated that the gender wage gap
has notably decreased due to women attaining higher levels of education and their ability to
invest in and develop skills that are highly valued in the job market. Goldin's work in economic
history has provided insights into the changing roles of women in the workforce throughout the
20th century, shedding light on the factors that have impacted women's participation in the
labor force and their earnings.

However, her most noteworthy contribution, in my opinion, lies in the impact her research has
had on shaping policies. Her research has crucial implications for policy-making, informing
discussions on gender equality, labor market dynamics, and education. Goldin's work suggests
that addressing the gender wage gap requires a comprehensive approach that considers factors
beyond pay discrimination, taking into account the broader elements influencing women's
career decisions. Witnessing an economics researcher continue to have such a profound and
wide-reaching real-world influence through her research and voice gives me encouragement
and optimism about the future of social science as a whole.

References:

- When the Kids Grow Up: Women’s Employment and Earnings Across the Family Cycle
https://scholar.harvard.edu/sites/scholar.harvard.edu/files/goldin/files/
goldinkerrolivetti_nber30323.pdf

-WhyWomenWon https://www.nber.org/system/files/working_papers/w31762/w31762.pdf

-Women Working Longer: Facts and Some Explanations

https://scholar.harvard.edu/sites/scholar.harvard.edu/files/goldin/files/
goldin_katz_wwl_final.pdf

-The Expanding Gender Earnings Gap: Evidence from the LEHD-2000 Census
https://scholar.harvard.edu/sites/scholar.harvard.edu/files/goldin/files/gkob_longerversion.pdf

-The New Life Cycle of Women’s Employment: Disappearing Humps, Sagging Middles, Expanding
Tops https://pubs.aeaweb.org/doi/pdf/10.1257/jep.31.1.161

- When the kids grow up: Women’s employment and earnings across the family lifecycle
https://cepr.org/voxeu/columns/when-kids-grow-womens-employment-and-earnings-across-
family-lifecycle