Arbeitspapier
A Strictly Economic Explanation of Gender Roles: The Lasting Legacy of the Plough
We show that the descendants of ancient farmers may have an interest in marrying among themselves, and thus maintaining the gendered division of labour, originally justified on comparative-advantage grounds by the advent of the plough, even after they emigrate to a modern industrial economy where individual productivity depends on education rather than physical characteristics. The result rests on the argument that, if efficiency requires the more productive spouse to specialize in raising income, and the less productive one in raising children, irrespective of gender, an efficient domestic equilibrium will be implemented by a costlessly enforceable pre-marital contract stipulating that the husband should do the former and the wife the latter. A con-tract may not be needed, however, if time spent with children gives direct utility, because an effi cient equilibrium may then be characterized by little or no division of labour.
- Language
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Englisch
- Bibliographic citation
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Series: CESifo Working Paper ; No. 8668
- Classification
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Wirtschaft
Bargaining Theory; Matching Theory
Institutions: Design, Formation, Operations, and Impact
Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
Geographic Labor Mobility; Immigrant Workers
- Subject
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plough
comparative advantage
gender
matching
hold-up problem
contract enforcement
migration
- Event
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Geistige Schöpfung
- (who)
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Cigno, Alessandro
- Event
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Veröffentlichung
- (who)
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Center for Economic Studies and Ifo Institute (CESifo)
- (where)
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Munich
- (when)
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2020
- Handle
- Last update
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10.03.2025, 11:42 AM CET
Data provider
ZBW - Deutsche Zentralbibliothek für Wirtschaftswissenschaften - Leibniz-Informationszentrum Wirtschaft. If you have any questions about the object, please contact the data provider.
Object type
- Arbeitspapier
Associated
- Cigno, Alessandro
- Center for Economic Studies and Ifo Institute (CESifo)
Time of origin
- 2020