Pension systems may have a different impact on gender because women are less likely than men to work in formal labor markets and earn lower wages when they do. Recent multipillar pension reforms tighten the link between payroll contributions and benefits, leading critics to argue that they will...

Large international organizations such as the World Bank pursue many objectives in hiring policies, including reduced costs, cultural diversity, and the avoidance of discrimination. There can be sharp tradeoffs between these objectives. Diversity is enhanced by recruiting from an international...

Son preference has persisted in the face of sweeping economic and social changes in China, India, and the Republic of Korea. The authors attribute this to their similar family systems, which generate strong disincentives to raise daughters while valuing adult women's contributions to the...

The authors explore the hypothesis that--because of the important role children play in collection activities (firewood, water, grazing)--the demand forchildren may increase as local environmental resources are depleted, setting up a vicious circle between resource depletion and population...

The author distinguishes the lifeboat ethic of Northern Europe's stem family system from the corporate ethic of North India's joint family system, which has much in common with that of China. She contrasts these family systems to show how norms of residence and inheritance: a) Profoundly...

Between 1971 and 1983, Korea's mean gender earnings ration remained virtually stagnant at 47 percent. But after 1983, the earnings ration took a distinct turn upward. In other words, not until after 1983 did Korean women make any progress in closing the gender-earnings gap. when controlling for...

According to theory, a member of a collective-action household may or may not share knowledge with others in that household. Shared income gains from shared knowledge may well be offset by a shift in the balance of power within the family. But do literate members of the household share the...

The author focuses on the role that information and communication technologies (ICTs) can play in improving gender equality, so as to enhance long-term economic growth. Employing OLS and IV panel regressions with country fixed-effects, he shows that increases in the level of ICT infrastructure...

Kinship systems in China, the Republic of Korea, and North India have similar features that generate discrimination against girls, and these countries have some of the highest proportions of girls"missing"in the world. The authors document how the excess mortality of girls was increased by war,...

The authors examine how domestic violence may be used as a bargaining instrument, to extract larger dowries from a spouse's family. The phrase"dowry violence"refers not to the paid at the time of the wedding, but to additional payments demanded by the groom's family after the marriage. The...