Pink Papers 2: Labor and Education Economics of LGBTQ+ People
Paper Session
Monday, Jan. 4, 2021 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM (EST)
- Chair: Marianne Bertrand, University of Chicago, NBER, and IZA
Tolerance and the Labor Supply of Gays and Lesbians
Abstract
The direct effects of tolerance for sexual minorities are presumed to matter but are under-studied. Tolerance can affect the disutility of work and household bargaining; therefore, we study how the labor supply of gay and lesbian workers responds to changes in tolerance of homosexuality across the United States. A one percentage point increase in tolerance motivates a one and half hour increase of annual paid labor among gay men and a one hour decrease of annual paid labor among lesbian women. The effect of tolerance is two and half times larger among lesbians who earn less than their partners.Schooling and Coming Out: Education as a Coping Mechanism
Abstract
This paper models the education and coming out choices of sexual minorities and empirically tests the model predictions using the American Community Survey and the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health. The model predicts higher educational attainment for minorities if education reduces potential discrimination. The gap is driven by two mechanisms I call counterbalance and selection. Minorities choose to obtain more education in anticipation of future discrimination (counterbalance), and educated minorities become more likely to come out as they experience less discrimination relative to their less-educated counterparts (selection). The empirical analyses suggest that sexual minority men obtain more education than heterosexual counterparts, the education gap disappears in LGBTQ-friendly places, and the ability threshold for college enrollment is lower for minority men relative to their heterosexual counterparts. With women, the ability threshold is surprisingly higher for sexual minorities. I explore the possibility that sexual minority women may reduce their education to avoid discrimination.Financial Independence & LGBTQ+ Emancipation: Labor History of LGBTQ+ populations and the Effects of Online Sex Work
Abstract
Sex work within the Digital Era has been a growing topic within the literature; however, many have failed to realize the implications of this safer sex work within LGBTQ+ populations, especially with regard to trans women and young gay men. Past sex work has uncovered disproportionate percentages of sex workers also being part of the LGBTQ+ community, realizing a critical role it has played for LGBTQ+ individuals in becoming emancipated and financial independence. This work tracks the economic history of labor among LGBTQ+ populations from the early 20th century to present day in America and how legal protections and greater tolerance has not only enabled LGBTQ+ liberation, but technological progress as well, and how this contributes to safer outcomes, relatively steady income, and greater mobility for those who may not come from environments conducive to LGBTQ+ acceptance.Sexual Orientation and Preferences for Competition
Abstract
n this project, we seek to understand whether homosexual men and women have meaningfully different preferences for competition than their heterosexual counterparts. Such differences, if they exist, could help explain the employment gaps we observe across men and women with different sexual orientations. We conduct a series of economics experiments on the online labor market platform Prolific, collecting data not only on sexual orientation and competitiveness, but also on important social variables to better capture the lived experience of homosexual persons in US society. Such data could illuminate any channels through which a potential “sexual orientation gap” in competitiveness is observed and is important for understanding how identity shapes economic preferences.Discussant(s)
Michael Martell
,
Bard College
Dan Black
,
University of Chicago
Christopher S. Carpenter
,
Vanderbilt University
Trevon D. Logan
,
Ohio State University
Erin Krupka
,
University of Michigan
JEL Classifications
- J7 - Labor Discrimination
- J1 - Demographic Economics