Nº 294 (Febrero, 2022). Inés Berniell, Leonardo Gasparini, Mariana Marchionni y Mariana Viollaz

«Lucky Women in Unlucky Cohorts: Gender Differences in the Effects of Initial Labor Market Conditions in Latin America».

This paper assesses gender differences in the effects of adverse conditions at labormarket entry in a developing region. Using harmonized microdata from national household surveys for 15 Latin American countries, we build a synthetic panel of cohorts that potentially transition from school to work and observe their labor market outcomes 10 years later. We find that men who faced higher unemployment rates at ages 18-20 suffer a negative effect on employment at ages 27-30. In contrast, women from those same unlucky cohorts have higher employment rates and earnings. Our results are consistent with women acting as secondary workers in downturns. We also find that initial labor market conditions correlate with the role played by women within the household and to perceptions about gender roles later in life, suggesting that empowerment could be a mechanism underlying the persistence of the positive effects on female labor outcomes.

Códigos JEL: J16, J21, J22, J31

Cita sugerida: Berniell, I., L. Gasparini, M. Marchionni y M. Viollaz (2022). Lucky Women in Unlucky Cohorts: Gender Differences in the Effects of Initial Labor Market Conditions in Latin America. Documentos de Trabajo del CEDLAS Nº 294, Febrero, 2022, CEDLAS-FCE-Universidad Nacional de La Plata.