Pub Date : 2026-03-01Epub Date: 2025-08-28DOI: 10.1016/j.jce.2025.07.012
Joan Costa-Font , Anna Nicińska , Melcior Rossello Roig
We compare inequality and social mobility trends in European countries exposed to Soviet Communist (SC) regimes with those not exposed, using similar welfare measures. We draw upon a rich retrospective dataset that collects relevant welfare measures across regimes including information on living space and self-reported health, and relevant inequality and mobility indices for ordinal and categorical data. Our results suggest evidence of comparable welfare inequality trends in countries exposed to SC and those unexposed. Although individuals exposed to SC enjoyed higher levels of social mobility, differences in inequality across countries exposed to different regimes were negligible. A plausible explanation lies in the countervailing role of the welfare state in countries not exposed to SC and the inefficiency of the bureaucratic allocation of private goods aimed at reducing inequality in countries exposed to SC.
{"title":"The effects on inequality and mobility of exposure to Soviet Communism in Eastern Europe","authors":"Joan Costa-Font , Anna Nicińska , Melcior Rossello Roig","doi":"10.1016/j.jce.2025.07.012","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jce.2025.07.012","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>We compare inequality and social mobility trends in European countries exposed to Soviet Communist (SC) regimes with those not exposed, using similar welfare measures. We draw upon a rich retrospective dataset that collects relevant welfare measures across regimes including information on living space and self-reported health, and relevant inequality and mobility indices for ordinal and categorical data. Our results suggest evidence of comparable welfare inequality trends in countries exposed to SC and those unexposed. Although individuals exposed to SC enjoyed higher levels of social mobility, differences in inequality across countries exposed to different regimes were negligible. A plausible explanation lies in the countervailing role of the welfare state in countries not exposed to SC and the inefficiency of the bureaucratic allocation of private goods aimed at reducing inequality in countries exposed to SC.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48183,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Comparative Economics","volume":"54 1","pages":"Pages 40-65"},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2026-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147419270","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-03-01Epub Date: 2025-09-19DOI: 10.1016/j.jce.2025.08.004
Dong-Hyeon Kim , Shu-Chin Lin , Peiyao Liu
Financial development occurs at either the intensive or extensive margin, depending on institutional quality. Weak institutions favor the wealthy with privileged financial access. Trade openness fosters competition and strengthens institutions, improving financial development at the extensive margin, which broadens financial access and helps reduce inequality. This paper provides robust empirical evidence to support the argument. Using dynamic panel estimation techniques on a sample consisting of both developed and developing countries, the analysis finds that financial development generally exacerbates income and wealth inequality. However, when trade openness exceeds a certain threshold, financial development can even reverse these negative trends. These findings highlight that trade openness is essential to ensure financial development promotes more equitable income and wealth distribution.
{"title":"The distributional consequences of trade openness on financial development","authors":"Dong-Hyeon Kim , Shu-Chin Lin , Peiyao Liu","doi":"10.1016/j.jce.2025.08.004","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jce.2025.08.004","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Financial development occurs at either the intensive or extensive margin, depending on institutional quality. Weak institutions favor the wealthy with privileged financial access. Trade openness fosters competition and strengthens institutions, improving financial development at the extensive margin, which broadens financial access and helps reduce inequality. This paper provides robust empirical evidence to support the argument. Using dynamic panel estimation techniques on a sample consisting of both developed and developing countries, the analysis finds that financial development generally exacerbates income and wealth inequality. However, when trade openness exceeds a certain threshold, financial development can even reverse these negative trends. These findings highlight that trade openness is essential to ensure financial development promotes more equitable income and wealth distribution.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48183,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Comparative Economics","volume":"54 1","pages":"Pages 116-146"},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2026-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147419276","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-03-01Epub Date: 2025-09-02DOI: 10.1016/j.jce.2025.08.001
Andreas Kammerlander , Kerstin Unfried
In this paper we investigate and assess the link between political favoritism and domestic conflict. In particular, we compare the difference in the likelihood and intensity of conflict between regions in which citizens reside that belong to identity groups of political leaders and others over time in a global sample for autocracies and non-autocratic regimes.
Combining geo-coded conflict data with self-gathered information on the birthplaces and ethnic affiliation of 836 political national leaders and using a two-way fixed effects model with region and country-year fixed effects, we find that regions experience 13.2% fewer casualties while they constitute the birth region of the national leader in autocracies compared to other times. Our empirical evidence on ethnic favoritism is mixed.
{"title":"Sending peace home! The effect of political favoritism on conflict","authors":"Andreas Kammerlander , Kerstin Unfried","doi":"10.1016/j.jce.2025.08.001","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jce.2025.08.001","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>In this paper we investigate and assess the link between political favoritism and domestic conflict. In particular, we compare the difference in the likelihood and intensity of conflict between regions in which citizens reside that belong to identity groups of political leaders and others over time in a global sample for autocracies and non-autocratic regimes.</div><div>Combining geo-coded conflict data with self-gathered information on the birthplaces and ethnic affiliation of 836 political national leaders and using a two-way fixed effects model with region and country-year fixed effects, we find that regions experience 13.2% fewer casualties while they constitute the birth region of the national leader in autocracies compared to other times. Our empirical evidence on ethnic favoritism is mixed.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48183,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Comparative Economics","volume":"54 1","pages":"Pages 66-81"},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2026-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147419271","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-03-01Epub Date: 2025-09-20DOI: 10.1016/j.jce.2025.09.001
Yueqin Wang , Chuanchuan Zhang , Junsen Zhang
Online education is rapidly expanding due to technological advancements and increased demand for quality education. However, its effectiveness and impact on student behavior are not well understood. The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated online education and offered a unique opportunity to evaluate its effects. Using nationwide longitudinal survey data from China, we find that online education during the pandemic significantly diminished academic performance and worsened mental health outcomes, including increased depressive symptoms and decreased well-being. Our analysis explores four behavioral mechanisms: interpersonal needs and relationships, parent-child interactions, teacher-student dynamics, and time allocation. We demonstrate that online education reduces effective peer interaction, deteriorates self-reported interpersonal and familial relationships, and leads to inefficient time allocation. Students also substantially increased their entertainment internet use, including video watching and gaming. These factors contributed to declines in academic performance and mental health. Our findings underscore the critical role of social networks and time allocation in maximizing the benefits of online education.
{"title":"Academic and health outcomes of online education for primary and secondary students: Evidence from COVID-19","authors":"Yueqin Wang , Chuanchuan Zhang , Junsen Zhang","doi":"10.1016/j.jce.2025.09.001","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jce.2025.09.001","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Online education is rapidly expanding due to technological advancements and increased demand for quality education. However, its effectiveness and impact on student behavior are not well understood. The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated online education and offered a unique opportunity to evaluate its effects. Using nationwide longitudinal survey data from China, we find that online education during the pandemic significantly diminished academic performance and worsened mental health outcomes, including increased depressive symptoms and decreased well-being. Our analysis explores four behavioral mechanisms: interpersonal needs and relationships, parent-child interactions, teacher-student dynamics, and time allocation. We demonstrate that online education reduces effective peer interaction, deteriorates self-reported interpersonal and familial relationships, and leads to inefficient time allocation. Students also substantially increased their entertainment internet use, including video watching and gaming. These factors contributed to declines in academic performance and mental health. Our findings underscore the critical role of social networks and time allocation in maximizing the benefits of online education.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48183,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Comparative Economics","volume":"54 1","pages":"Pages 147-163"},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2026-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147420310","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-03-01Epub Date: 2025-09-03DOI: 10.1016/j.jce.2025.08.002
Mateo Hoyos
This paper provides novel empirical evidence that the medium-term relationship between trade liberalization and growth varies substantially with countries’ economic structure. Using a multi-method strategy, I examine per capita income dynamics after tariff reductions in a panel of 161 countries from 1960 to 2019. Baseline local projections reveal a sharp divergence: GDP per capita rises in manufacturer countries following tariff reductions, and notably falls in nonmanufacturers. A local projections difference-in-differences framework strengthens the analysis by accounting for treatment effect heterogeneity and variation in treatment timing. Finally, I study tariff reductions during the WTO-era reform period (1986 to 1994), a policy episode that historical evidence supports as plausibly exogenous, providing complementary evidence that confirms the observed heterogeneity. An exploration of mechanisms using local projections links these patterns to shifts in productivity, capital stocks, and manufacturing shares in GDP, consistent with theoretical expectations. The findings suggest that rising protectionism in manufacturer countries may be harmful, while further liberalization in nonmanufacturers could have unintended consequences.
{"title":"Tariffs and growth: Heterogeneity by economic structure","authors":"Mateo Hoyos","doi":"10.1016/j.jce.2025.08.002","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jce.2025.08.002","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This paper provides novel empirical evidence that the medium-term relationship between trade liberalization and growth varies substantially with countries’ economic structure. Using a multi-method strategy, I examine per capita income dynamics after tariff reductions in a panel of 161 countries from 1960 to 2019. Baseline local projections reveal a sharp divergence: GDP per capita rises in manufacturer countries following tariff reductions, and notably falls in nonmanufacturers. A local projections difference-in-differences framework strengthens the analysis by accounting for treatment effect heterogeneity and variation in treatment timing. Finally, I study tariff reductions during the WTO-era reform period (1986 to 1994), a policy episode that historical evidence supports as plausibly exogenous, providing complementary evidence that confirms the observed heterogeneity. An exploration of mechanisms using local projections links these patterns to shifts in productivity, capital stocks, and manufacturing shares in GDP, consistent with theoretical expectations. The findings suggest that rising protectionism in manufacturer countries may be harmful, while further liberalization in nonmanufacturers could have unintended consequences.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48183,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Comparative Economics","volume":"54 1","pages":"Pages 99-115"},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2026-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147419275","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-03-01Epub Date: 2025-10-28DOI: 10.1016/j.jce.2025.09.003
Firat Demir , Pallab Ghosh , Zhengang Xu
This paper examines the effects of political protests during the Egyptian revolution between 2011 and 2014 on “missing women” in Egypt. The term “missing women” refers to the number of women missing in population because of sex-selective abortions, excess female mortality and lower survival rates caused by gender discrimination, infanticide, neglect, malnutrition, domestic violence, unequal healthcare access and provision, and poor treatment. We hypothesize that increased female participation in these protests improved women’s empowerment and helped reduce missing women. Using a difference-in-differences analysis, our identification strategy is based on protest intensity heterogeneity, and changes in missing women for the age group of [0–1] before and after the protests across different governorates in urban and rural areas. We find convincing causal evidence that the number of missing women decreased significantly in high protest intensity governorates. Based on protest heterogeneity across different periods, we also show that this effect was most visible after the fourth and final phase of protests. As for possible channels, we find that domestic violence during pregnancy incidence fell significantly in treatment areas, while both relative vaccination rate of girls aged [0–1] as well as women’s empowerment increased significantly.
{"title":"The effects of female political participation on missing women: Evidence from the Egyptian protests of 2011–2014","authors":"Firat Demir , Pallab Ghosh , Zhengang Xu","doi":"10.1016/j.jce.2025.09.003","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jce.2025.09.003","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This paper examines the effects of political protests during the Egyptian revolution between 2011 and 2014 on “missing women” in Egypt. The term “missing women” refers to the number of women missing in population because of sex-selective abortions, excess female mortality and lower survival rates caused by gender discrimination, infanticide, neglect, malnutrition, domestic violence, unequal healthcare access and provision, and poor treatment. We hypothesize that increased female participation in these protests improved women’s empowerment and helped reduce missing women. Using a difference-in-differences analysis, our identification strategy is based on protest intensity heterogeneity, and changes in missing women for the age group of [0–1] before and after the protests across different governorates in urban and rural areas. We find convincing causal evidence that the number of missing women decreased significantly in high protest intensity governorates. Based on protest heterogeneity across different periods, we also show that this effect was most visible after the fourth and final phase of protests. As for possible channels, we find that domestic violence during pregnancy incidence fell significantly in treatment areas, while both relative vaccination rate of girls aged [0–1] as well as women’s empowerment increased significantly.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48183,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Comparative Economics","volume":"54 1","pages":"Pages 194-213"},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2026-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147420313","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-03-01Epub Date: 2025-10-10DOI: 10.1016/j.jce.2025.09.002
Xiaoyan Lei , Guangjun Shen , Ang Sun , Wang Xiang , Huili Zhang
We investigate the impact of education on stemming human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) infection. Using China’s Compulsory Schooling Law (CSL) as a quasi-natural experiment, we find that mass education significantly enhances knowledge about HIV/AIDS, and that each additional year of exposure to the CSL reduces HIV/AIDS contraction and mortality rates by 6.51 % and 2.15 %, respectively. Further analyses suggest that these reductions are primarily driven by a reduction in blood-borne transmission. In contrast, the effect of CSL on sexual transmission is ambiguous. Drawing on detailed data on individuals’ sexual behaviors and attitudes toward sex and fertility, we find that the CSL significantly lowers women’s desired fertility without affecting that of men. Consequently, women become the more active contraception seekers within households, leading to a substitution of female-controlled contraceptive methods for condoms. This behavioral shift may increase the risk of sexually transmitted infections, potentially offsetting or even muting the CSL’s positive effect on reducing the sexual transmission of HIV/AIDS.
{"title":"Education, desired fertility, and HIV/AIDS: Evidence from China’s compulsory schooling law","authors":"Xiaoyan Lei , Guangjun Shen , Ang Sun , Wang Xiang , Huili Zhang","doi":"10.1016/j.jce.2025.09.002","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jce.2025.09.002","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>We investigate the impact of education on stemming human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) infection. Using China’s Compulsory Schooling Law (CSL) as a quasi-natural experiment, we find that mass education significantly enhances knowledge about HIV/AIDS, and that each additional year of exposure to the CSL reduces HIV/AIDS contraction and mortality rates by 6.51 % and 2.15 %, respectively. Further analyses suggest that these reductions are primarily driven by a reduction in blood-borne transmission. In contrast, the effect of CSL on sexual transmission is ambiguous. Drawing on detailed data on individuals’ sexual behaviors and attitudes toward sex and fertility, we find that the CSL significantly lowers women’s desired fertility without affecting that of men. Consequently, women become the more active contraception seekers within households, leading to a substitution of female-controlled contraceptive methods for condoms. This behavioral shift may increase the risk of sexually transmitted infections, potentially offsetting or even muting the CSL’s positive effect on reducing the sexual transmission of HIV/AIDS.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48183,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Comparative Economics","volume":"54 1","pages":"Pages 164-193"},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2026-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147420312","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-03-01Epub Date: 2025-11-16DOI: 10.1016/j.jce.2025.11.003
Yu Bai , Yanjun Li , Xinyan Liu , Ryuichi Tanaka
This study investigates the heterogeneous long-term effects of compulsory education on property crime by exploiting the staggered implementation of China’s Compulsory Schooling Law (CSL) as a natural experiment. Using a novel panel dataset of criminal court verdicts from the China Judgments Online platform, we find that CSL significantly increased educational attainment and reduced property crime rates in affected cohorts. This reduction is concentrated in low-skill theft crimes, with no significant effect on high-skill fraud crimes, suggesting that basic education primarily deters entry-level criminal activity. These results suggest that displacement effects may play a role, highlighting the importance of considering the differential reach of education policies, such as basic compulsory schooling versus higher education expansions, when designing crime prevention strategies.
{"title":"The long-run and heterogeneous impact of educational policy on crime","authors":"Yu Bai , Yanjun Li , Xinyan Liu , Ryuichi Tanaka","doi":"10.1016/j.jce.2025.11.003","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jce.2025.11.003","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study investigates the heterogeneous long-term effects of compulsory education on property crime by exploiting the staggered implementation of China’s Compulsory Schooling Law (CSL) as a natural experiment. Using a novel panel dataset of criminal court verdicts from the China Judgments Online platform, we find that CSL significantly increased educational attainment and reduced property crime rates in affected cohorts. This reduction is concentrated in low-skill theft crimes, with no significant effect on high-skill fraud crimes, suggesting that basic education primarily deters entry-level criminal activity. These results suggest that displacement effects may play a role, highlighting the importance of considering the differential reach of education policies, such as basic compulsory schooling versus higher education expansions, when designing crime prevention strategies.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48183,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Comparative Economics","volume":"54 1","pages":"Pages 295-311"},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2026-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147420314","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-03-01Epub Date: 2025-10-30DOI: 10.1016/j.jce.2025.10.002
Kun Jiang , Frank M. Song , Peng Zhou
The expansion of private firms presents new dynamics for the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in the private sector. Utilizing data from 17,681 private firms spanning from 2006 to 2016, this study examines how the CCP reinforces its presence in the private sector by the extension of grassroots party branches into private firms. Our findings suggest that private firms with in-house party branches receive considerable financial support without facing increased government expropriation, which enhances the appeal of such branches to entrepreneurs. Furthermore, the presence of party branches has a greater impact in regions where the private sector plays a larger role and entrepreneurship is flourishing. We also find that in-house party branches tend to steer private firms to investments that generate higher social returns, potentially diverting resources away from their ongoing business activities. Such resource reallocation enhances the performance of private firms facing financing constraints.
{"title":"How does the Chinese communist party embrace the private sector?","authors":"Kun Jiang , Frank M. Song , Peng Zhou","doi":"10.1016/j.jce.2025.10.002","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jce.2025.10.002","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The expansion of private firms presents new dynamics for the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in the private sector. Utilizing data from 17,681 private firms spanning from 2006 to 2016, this study examines how the CCP reinforces its presence in the private sector by the extension of grassroots party branches into private firms. Our findings suggest that private firms with in-house party branches receive considerable financial support without facing increased government expropriation, which enhances the appeal of such branches to entrepreneurs. Furthermore, the presence of party branches has a greater impact in regions where the private sector plays a larger role and entrepreneurship is flourishing. We also find that in-house party branches tend to steer private firms to investments that generate higher social returns, potentially diverting resources away from their ongoing business activities. Such resource reallocation enhances the performance of private firms facing financing constraints.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48183,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Comparative Economics","volume":"54 1","pages":"Pages 229-247"},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2026-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147420316","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2026-03-01Epub Date: 2025-10-29DOI: 10.1016/j.jce.2025.10.001
Hector Galindo-Silva, Paula Herrera-Idárraga
How do gender norms change? This paper provides evidence that exposure to mandatory high school courses on the 1991 Colombian Constitution—which incorporated principles of gender equality—significantly influenced attitudes toward gender roles. Using a difference-in-differences framework, we compare individuals who were exposed to these courses with those who were not. The results show that constitutional education increased support for gender equality, particularly among men. The effect is stronger when a younger woman is present in the household, suggesting a possible motivation to support the empowerment of younger female relatives. We also document important gender differences in how these shifts manifest within households: women exposed to the courses were more likely to reject the idea that men should be the head of the household, whereas men’s views on intra-household roles remained largely unchanged. This contrast points to persistent resistance to gender norm change within the private sphere, even as broader attitudes become more egalitarian. Taken together, the findings underscore the role of institutional and cultural change—through constitutional reform and civic education—in fostering more egalitarian gender norms, while also highlighting the complexity of such transformations.
{"title":"Constitutions, education and gender norms change: Evidence from Colombia","authors":"Hector Galindo-Silva, Paula Herrera-Idárraga","doi":"10.1016/j.jce.2025.10.001","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jce.2025.10.001","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>How do gender norms change? This paper provides evidence that exposure to mandatory high school courses on the 1991 Colombian Constitution—which incorporated principles of gender equality—significantly influenced attitudes toward gender roles. Using a difference-in-differences framework, we compare individuals who were exposed to these courses with those who were not. The results show that constitutional education increased support for gender equality, particularly among men. The effect is stronger when a younger woman is present in the household, suggesting a possible motivation to support the empowerment of younger female relatives. We also document important gender differences in how these shifts manifest within households: women exposed to the courses were more likely to reject the idea that men should be the head of the household, whereas men’s views on intra-household roles remained largely unchanged. This contrast points to persistent resistance to gender norm change within the private sphere, even as broader attitudes become more egalitarian. Taken together, the findings underscore the role of institutional and cultural change—through constitutional reform and civic education—in fostering more egalitarian gender norms, while also highlighting the complexity of such transformations.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48183,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Comparative Economics","volume":"54 1","pages":"Pages 214-228"},"PeriodicalIF":3.1,"publicationDate":"2026-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147420311","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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