Becoming A Woman: Sibling Structure and Gender Attitudes (with Chris Bidner)
Abstract: This paper analyzes the heterogeneous effects of sibling structure on individual gender attitudes. Exploiting the variation in the tightness of the One Child Policy across regions in China, as well as twin births, we show that compared to single children, women growing up with siblings hold more traditional gender attitudes, while men exhibit no significant differences. Further investigation indicates that the sibling effects on gender attitude act through the channel of the gender composition of the siblings. Women with brothers adopt more traditional gender role attitudes compared to those with sisters only, while the gender of siblings does not have significant effects on men’s attitudes. Our findings suggest that the existence of brothers exposes girls to the reinforcement of traditional gender role orientations, such as the allocation of household tasks and parental involvement, which in turn socializes women with more traditional gender norms.
(The latest version of the paper and slides.)
Conference:
The Canadian Economics Association Conference 2023, Winnipeg, CA.
The Gendered Lens of Generational Bonds: Understanding the Gender Compositions of Families and Grandparental Support in China
Abstract: This paper investigates how family size and the gender of children affect intergenerational relationships. Using two-way fixed effects models with panel data, I find that the probability of receiving care from the grandparents is significantly higher for a woman when she gives birth to sons compared to daughters, whereas the grandparents’ care for the father does not depend on the gender of his children. Similar results are found when examining the financial help received from grandparents. When young families have sons, the grandparents from the mother’s side are more likely to help out than those from the father’s side. These intergenerational dynamics create two offsetting effects on mothers’ labour force participation. On one hand, the child-rearing and housework help from grandparents leaves mothers who have sons more time for work. On the other hand, the income effect from the grandparents’ financial assistance nudges women with sons to exit the labour market.
The Sacrificing Older Sisters: Evidence from The Relaxation of One Child Policy in Rural China
Abstract: This paper looks into the effect of family size on education and labor market outcomes of first-born female children in rural China. I use as an instrument the variations in the implementation year of the relaxation of the One-Child Policy across provinces, which allows rural families with girls as their firstborn to have a second child. The result shows that having a second child in the family reduces on average 0.94 years of formal education and 4.7 percent of the probability of joining the workforce for the firstborn female child in rural China. The negative effect is persistent and larger when the second child is a boy.
Conference:
The 2019 International Symposium on Contemporary Labor Economics, Hong Kong.
More Beyond the Melting Pot: the Intergenerational Cultural Transmission within the Heterogamous Families (with Chris Bidner)
Abstract: This paper develops a theoretical analysis of the intergenerational transmission of cultural values based on the model presented by Bisin and Verdier (2000, 2001). We include the probability of parents from a heterogamous household directly transmitting their value to the next generation using a game theoretical approach. With exogenous marriage market matching, We then study the dynamics of cultural value distribution and the ’melting pot’ equilibrium under the setups above.