Despite economic growth, fertility reductions, and increases in female educational attainment, overall female labor force participation in India declined from 35 percent to 27 percent between 1999 and 2012. I examine the degree to which this puzzling decline can be attributed to an increase in earnings of married males. I first show that between 1999 and 2012, districts that experience a relati...

Using a randomized experiment, this study examines whether offering afterschool care for children aged between 6 and 13 has an impact on labor market outcomes for women in Chile. The results show that program participation increases employment by 5% and labor force participation by 7%, while the intervention also generates substantial childcare substitution. The results also suggest that the pr...

This paper presents a theory where increases in female labor force participation and reductions in the gender wage-gap are generated as part of a single process of demographic transition, initially characterized by reductions in mortality and fertility. The paper suggests a relationship between gains in life expectancy and changes in the role of women in society that has not been identified bef...

Public works programs, aimed at building a strong social safety net through redistribution of wealth and generation of meaningful employment, are becoming increasingly popular in developing countries. The National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA), enacted in August 2005, is one such program in India. This paper assesses causal impacts (Intentto-Treat) of NREGA on public works participatio...

Over 11 million undocumented persons reside in the United States. This paper examines the labor supply of this population. Using newly developed methods that impute undocumented status for persons in the Current Population Surveys, the study documents a number of findings. The labor force participation rate of undocumented men is larger than that of natives or legal immigrants; this gap widened...

Fertility behavior is constrained by the labor force status of both partners of a couple (married or cohabiting), and by how they distribute among them household chores, childcare, and paid work. Uncertainty about labor market prospects and associated income is also likely to influence fertility decisions. Moreover, institutional configurations specific to each country may influence the decisio...