Enabling the Visible Hand

In this paper we use data from more than 2,500 industry-years, reported by the Ohio Division of Labor Statistics, to track changes in employment and weekly wages among male and female production workers and clerical workers between 1914-1937. We find that among Ohio's manufacturing establishments female employment and real wages were rising throughout this period, particularly within clerical occupations. Increases in women's share of the total manufacturing workforce were nearly monotonic between 1914-1937, while after having been, at best, stagnant until the mid- 1920s, women's relative wages increased through the last half of the 1920s and into the 1930s. After matching our employment and wage data with information from the Census of Manufactures for the state of Ohio, we estimate translog production functions which indicate that Ohio manufacturers were adopting new organizational structures and technologies that were biased in favor of female clerical labor. This non-neutrality in technological and organizational change (like the employment and wage patterns) was driven primarily by larger firms that had relatively complex production processes. A simple counterfactual exercise indicates that the adoption of non-neutral technological and organizational change over this period can explain much of the observed increase in demand and remuneration for educated female manufacturing workers. This conclusion emphasizes the role women played channeling early twentieth century organizational and technological change, in effect enabling Chandler's "visible hand".US manufacturing, Female labor force participation, Technological change

Female labor Force Participation in an Era of Organizational and Technological Change

This paper examines the endogenous interaction between the rise in female labor force participation and changes in both the method and mode of production that occurred during the early part of the 20th century. Within a dynamic general equilibrium framework, an exogenous expansion in the skill level of the population induces an organizational change at the firm level and a redirection of investment towards new technologies that complement the skills of the emerging workforce. In addition to allowing for a change in the method of production in a market with directed technical change, a framework is developed to explicitly examine the transitional dynamics as skilled workers become relatively abundant. The rise in the skill level explains the rise in female labor force participation, the increase in women's wages and the decline of the clerical wage relative to manufacturing.female labor force participation, clerical work, organizational change, technological change

The origins of the institutions of marriage

Standard economic theories of household formation predict the rise of institutionalized polygyny in response to increased resource inequality among men. We propose a theory, within the framework of a matching model of marriage, in which, in some cases, institutionalized monogamy prevails, even when resources are unequally distributed, as a result of agricultural externalities that increase the presence of pair-bonding hormones. Within marriage, hormone levels contribute to the formation of the marital pair bond, the strength of which determines a man's willingness to invest in his wife's children. These pair bonds are reinforced through physical contact between the man and his wife and can be amplified by externalities produced by certain production technologies. Both the presence of additional wives and the absence of these externalities reduce the strength of the marital bond and, where the fitness of a child is increasing in paternal investment, reduce a woman's expected lifetime fertility. Multiple equilibria in terms of the dominant form of marriage (for example, polygyny or monogamy) are possible, if the surplus to a match is a function of reproductive success as well as material income. Using evidence from the Standard Cross Cultural Sample and Murdock's Ethnographic Atlas, we find that agricultural production externalities that affect neurological pair-bonding incentives significantly reduce the tendency to polygyny, even when resource inequality is present

Female labor Force Participation in an Era of Organizational and Technological Change

This paper examines the endogenous interaction between the rise in female labor force participation and changes in both the method and mode of production that occurred during the early part of the 20th century. Within a dynamic general equilibrium framework, an exogenous expansion in the skill level of the population induces an organizational change at the firm level and a redirection of investment towards new technologies that complement the skills of the emerging workforce. In addition to allowing for a change in the method of production in a market with directed technical change, a framework is developed to explicitly examine the transitional dynamics as skilled workers become relatively abundant. The rise in the skill level explains the rise in female labor force participation, the increase in women's wages and the decline of the clerical wage relative to manufacturing

Female labor Force Participation in an Era of Organizational and Technological Change

This paper examines the endogenous interaction between the rise in female labor force par- ticipation and changes in both the method and mode of production that occurred during the early part of the 20th century. Within a dynamic general equilibrium framework, an exoge- nous expansion in the skill level of the population induces an organizational change at the Þrm level and a redirection of investment towards new technologies that complement the skills of the emerging workforce. In addition to allowing for a change in the method of production in a market with directed technical change, a framework is developed to explicitly examine the transitional dynamics as skilled workers become relatively abundant. The rise in the skill level explains the rise in female labor force participation, the increase in womens wages and the decline of the clerical wage relative to manufacturing

Enabling the Visible Hand

In this paper we use data from more than 2,500 industry-years, reported by the Ohio Division of Labor Statistics, to track changes in employment and weekly wages among male and female production workers and clerical workers between 1914-1937. We find that among Ohio's manufacturing establishments female employment and real wages were rising throughout this period, particularly within clerical occupations. Increases in women's share of the total manufacturing workforce were nearly monotonic between 1914-1937, while after having been, at best, stagnant until the mid- 1920s, women's relative wages increased through the last half of the 1920s and into the 1930s. After matching our employment and wage data with information from the Census of Manufactures for the state of Ohio, we estimate translog production functions which indicate that Ohio manufacturers were adopting new organizational structures and technologies that were biased in favor of female clerical labor. This non-neutrality in technological and organizational change (like the employment and wage patterns) was driven primarily by larger firms that had relatively complex production processes. A simple counterfactual exercise indicates that the adoption of non-neutral technological and organizational change over this period can explain much of the observed increase in demand and remuneration for educated female manufacturing workers. This conclusion emphasizes the role women played channeling early twentieth century organizational and technological change, in effect enabling Chandler's "visible hand"

Enabling the Visible Hand

In this paper we use data from more than 2,500 industry-years, reported by the Ohio Division of Labor Statistics, to track changes in employment and weekly wages among male and female production workers and clerical workers between 1914-1937. We find that among Ohio’s manufacturing establishments female employment and real wages were rising throughout this period, particularly within clerical occupations. Increases in women’s share of the total manufacturing workforce were nearly monotonic between 1914-1937, while after having been, at best, stagnant until the mid- 1920s, women’s relative wages increased through the last half of the 1920s and into the 1930s. After matching our employment and wage data with information from the Census of Manufactures for the state of Ohio, we estimate translog production functions which indicate that Ohio manufacturers were adopting new organizational structures and technologies that were biased in favor of female clerical labor. This non-neutrality in technological and organizational change (like the employment and wage patterns) was driven primarily by larger firms that had relatively complex production processes. A simple counterfactual exercise indicates that the adoption of non-neutral technological and organizational change over this period can explain much of the observed increase in demand and remuneration for educated female manufacturing workers. This conclusion emphasizes the role women played channeling early twentieth century organizational and technological change, in effect enabling Chandler’s “visible hand”

The Origins of the Institutions of Marriage

Standard economic theories of household formation predict the rise of institutionalized polyg- yny in response to increased resource inequality among men. We propose a theory, within the framework of a matching model of marriage, in which, in some cases, institutionalized monogamy prevails, even when resources are unequally distributed, as a result of agricultural externalities that increase the presence of pair-bonding hormones. Within marriage, hormone levels contribute to the formation of the marital pair bond, the strength of which determines a man's willingness to invest in his wife's children. These pair bonds are reinforced through phys- ical contact between the man and his wife and can be amplified by externalities produced by certain production technologies. Both the presence of additional wives and the absence of these externalities reduce the strength of the marital bond and, where the fitness of a child is increas- ing in paternal investment, reduce a woman's expected lifetime fertility. Multiple equilibria in terms of the dominant form of marriage (for example, polygyny or monogamy) are possible, if the surplus to a match is a function of reproductive success as well as material income. Using evidence from the Standard Cross Cultural Sample and Murdock's Ethnographic Atlas, we find that agricultural production externalities that affect neurological pair-bonding incentives significantly reduce the tendency to polygyny, even when resource inequality is present

What public health interventions do people in Canada prefer to fund? A discrete choice experiment

Objective To assess public support of tailored and targeted public health interventions for marginalized communities. Methods We conducted a discrete choice experiment using a web-based survey advertised to Facebook and Instagram users living in Canada, aged > 16. Participants were asked to choose between funding two hypothetical public health programs. Each program was described by its purpose; expected increase in life expectancy; and target audience. Demographically weighted generalized linear mixed-effects models were constructed to identify program factors associated with program selection. Results Participants completed up to 8 discrete choice comparison exercises each resulting in 23,889 exercises were completed by 3054 participants. Selected programs were less likely to focus on prevention (vs. treatment). For each 1-year increase in the marginal years of life gained, there was a 15% increase in the odds of a program being selected. Interventions tailored to marginalized communities or targeting stigmatized health conditions were less likely to be selected compared to interventions targeted to the general population or targeting chronic health conditions. Noteworthy exceptions included an increased preference for interventions aligning with the perceived needs or cultural expectations for marginalized communities. Conclusions Stigmatizing perceptions of health conditions and key populations likely influence public health programming preferences of Canadians. Public health implications Informational campaigns highlighting disparities experienced by marginalized populations may improve support for targeted and tailored interventions.Other UBCNon UBCReviewedFacultyResearcherOthe