Abstract
Existing explanations for occupational sex segregation, whether they are supply-oriented based on human capital theories (Polachek, 1979), or demand-oriented emphasizing employer discrimination (Bergmann, 1974), fail to explain many aspects of segregation. An alternative hypothesis is proposed which incorporates marriage and labor markets in the spirit of The New Home Economics. This hypothesis suggests that marriage market conditions and individual traits that affect women's bargaining power might lead to both higher female participation in the labor force and higher segregation. Segregation might be an outcome of intensified participation when the family system does not respond, or responds negatively to higher participation. This is the case when participation is caused by women's low bargaining power in the marriage market. This process of segregation might be exacerbated by male employees and employers who try to avoid direct competition with female workers and thus push them into female-dominated occupations. Circumstantial evidence supports this hypothesis and policy implications aimed at improving women's bargaining situation are suggested.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 347-358 |
| Number of pages | 12 |
| Journal | Journal of Socio-Economics |
| Volume | 20 |
| Issue number | 4 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - 1991 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:Acknowledgments: Thanks are due to Shoshana A. Grossbard-Shechtman,D afna N. Izraeli and Avi Weiss for helpful commentso n an earlier draft of this article. Financial support from the Schnitzer Foundation for Researcho n the Israeli Economy and Society is gratefullya cknowledged.
Funding
Acknowledgments: Thanks are due to Shoshana A. Grossbard-Shechtman,D afna N. Izraeli and Avi Weiss for helpful commentso n an earlier draft of this article. Financial support from the Schnitzer Foundation for Researcho n the Israeli Economy and Society is gratefullya cknowledged.
| Funders | Funder number |
|---|---|
| Schnitzer Foundation for Research on the Israeli Economy and Society |