Childbearing Age and the Shadow Mommy Effect on Hiring: A Large-Scale Field Experiment
司唯，上海科技大学创业与管理学院助理教授，瑞典斯德哥尔摩大学经济学博士。主要研究领域为劳动经济学、发展经济学、人口经济学。其研究成果发布于Journal of Population Economics, Health Economics等国际期刊。主持国家自然基金青年项目、上海市浦江人才计划等基金项目。
Abstract
Gender stereotypes and discrimination within organizations often hinder women's labor market participation, particularly during their childbearing years. To test this hypothesis, we conduct a large-scale field experiment in China to investigate the effect of women's childbearing age on labor market discrimination. We send 35,713 fictitious resumes to real job postings on a major Chinese online recruitment platform for jobs in four leading cities: Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen. We submit job applications to organizations in the male-dominated field of information technology, the female-dominated field of accounting, and the mixed-gender field of human resources. Generally, the evidence indicates that women of childbearing age experience statistical discrimination, regardless of their actual motherhood status. However, theshadow mommy effectis heterogeneous across different fields of occupations, firm ownership types, and cities. Our findings indicate that employers' concerns about potential costs arising from gendered parental responsibility disparities are the main mediators of theshadow mommy effect. Nonetheless, fostering inclusivity for women, adopting robust ESG practices, and offering additional childcare support can mitigate this discrimination against women of childbearing age. The results also suggest a negative relationship between labor market discrimination against women of childbearing age and the fertility rate in urban areas. This study provides insights for decision-makers in both public and private organizations, laying the groundwork for potential policy development to address gender inequality in the labor market and related challenges in similar societies.
时间：2023年11月7日 下午4:15-5:30
地点：水上教学楼213
主持人：苏亚琴
湖南大学经济管理研究中心副教授
纽约州立大学布法罗分校经济学博士
