Social norms and women in the labor force

Abstract

Social norms and gender roles shape the prevalent gap in the labor force participation of men and women. This study aims to understand whether female labor force participation is affected by social norms by using the election of female senators and governors as a possible cause of norms that support working women. Using a regression discontinuity design, I estimate the relative change in women's labor force participation after a woman wins the Senate seat or governor's office by a narrow margin of victory. My estimations do not provide evidence to reject the hypotheses of no demonstration effect of female politicians on labor force participation of women.