Including More Women Economists Influences Policy Choices, Research - IMF F&D Magazine - June 2018 | Volume 55 | Number 2
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Bibliographic details
- Authors: ANN MARI MAY, DAVID KUCERA, MARY G MCGARVEY
- Published: June 1, 2018
- Volume: 55
Summary
- It is important to include both men and women economists when formulating and debating economic policy. A greater representation of women in economics would influence policy choices and the underlying research.
- The article reports findings from a survey of male and female economists at universities in 18 European Union countries that grant PhDs in economics.
- The study analyzed responses across a wide variety of policy questions and controlled for where economists reside and when and where their PhDs were earned.
Major findings
- Statistically significant differences in opinions between men and women economists were found in all five topic areas examined:
- (1) core economic principles and methodology;
- (2) market solutions versus government intervention;
- (3) government spending, taxation, and redistribution;
- (4) environmental protection; and
- (5) gender and equal opportunities.
- The largest gender difference involved choices between market solutions and government intervention:
- The average female economist was less likely than the average male economist to prefer market solutions over government intervention.
- The largest specific difference concerned the notion that stronger employment protection legislation results in weaker economic performance: men were more likely than women to believe this type of government intervention would weaken the economy.
- Environmental protection produced the second-largest gender gap:
- Women economists were more likely to support increased environmental protection than their male counterparts.
- The largest difference in this group centered on whether the European Union should continue the ban on planting genetically modified crops, with women more likely to agree with continuing the ban.
- Government spending, taxes, and redistribution showed a small, though statistically significant, gender difference:
- Disagreements over the appropriate level of military spending accounted for the largest difference in this group; women were more likely to see military spending as too large, while men were more likely to take the opposite view.
- Core principles and methodology produced notable differences:
- Women economists were more likely than men to support the notion that interdisciplinary research teams would improve economic knowledge.
- Gender and equal opportunities questions:
- The largest difference centered on perceptions of opportunities for men and women in economics in most universities in the European Union: women were more likely to believe that opportunities in economics favor men a bit more, whereas men believed that opportunities favor women a bit more, or are approximately equal.
Implications for policymaking and research
- The gender gap in views on the economy has important implications for policymaking and the outcomes of decisions that are pursued.
- Greater representation of women in economics, particularly at the senior level, would influence not only policy choices but also the types of research questions asked.
- This may be especially important in the European Union, where economics professors commonly serve in high-level policymaking roles (such as prime minister, cabinet-level positions, and heads of central banks) and where economic knowledge in higher education is more readily transformed into policy than in the United States (Frey and Eichenberger 1993).
Explanations for underrepresentation and stalled progress
- Despite an increase in the number of women entering economics from the 1970s to the 1990s, the profession remains predominantly male.
- The study provides an important clue as to why there may be fewer women in economics than in other STEM fields: if women hold views at odds with the perspectives of more senior male colleagues on research and policy questions, women might be less likely than men to be hired, promoted, and have their work published in top journals.
- Such barriers may help explain why progress in female representation in the economics profession stalled around 2000, as reported by the American Economic Association’s Committee on the Status of Women in the Economics Profession.
Policy takeaways and recommendations
- Include both men and women economists at the table when formulating and debating economic policy to expand the debate and enlarge the scope of perspectives.
- Improve gender balance in economic decision-making to potentially contribute to greater productivity and innovation, better company performance, and improved public policy (as emphasized by the European Commission).
- Encourage interdisciplinary research teams, given women economists’ greater support for interdisciplinary approaches to improve economic knowledge.
Study and authorship
- Survey population: economists at universities in 18 European Union countries that grant PhDs in economics.
- The article references prior work including a 2014 U.S.-based study and Frey and Eichenberger 1993 on differences between American and European economics and economists.
- Authors:
- ANN MARI MAY, professor of economics at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln.
- DAVID KUCERA, senior economist at the International Labour Organization, Geneva, Switzerland.
- MARY G. MCGARVEY, associate professor at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln.
Content from IMF F&D Magazine, June 2018 | Volume 55 | Number 2.
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