Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/170814 
Year of Publication: 
2017
Series/Report no.: 
IZA Discussion Papers No. 10830
Publisher: 
Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), Bonn
Abstract: 
This paper examines the persistent effects of historical labor market institutions and policies on women's long-term labor market outcomes. We quantify these enduring effects by exploring quasi-experimental variation in Germany's post-World War II mandatory reconstruction policy, which compelled women to work in the rubble removal and reconstruction process. Using difference-in-differences and instrumental variable approaches, we find that mandatory employment during the postwar era generated persistent adverse effects on women's long-term labor market outcomes. An increase in marriage and fertility rates in the postwar era and a physical and mental exhaustion associated with manual labor are some of the direct and indirect channels potentially explaining our results.
Subjects: 
female labor supply
historical institutions
occupational choice
JEL: 
J16
J24
N34
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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