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LGBTQ+ Economics Topics

Paper Session

Sunday, Jan. 5, 2025 8:00 AM - 10:00 AM (PST)

Hilton San Francisco Union Square, Golden Gate 6
Hosted By: American Economic Association & Committee on the Status of LGBTQ+ Individuals in the Economics Profession
  • Chair: Donn Feir, University of Victoria

The Rainbow of Municipal Credit: Evidence from Same-Sex Marriage Bans

Lei Gao
,
George Mason University
Steve Liu
,
University of Rhode Island
Ying Wang
,
SUNY-Albany

Abstract

This paper examines how restricting rights for same-sex couples through bans on same-sex marriage impacts municipal bond financing costs for local governments. Utilizing variation in the timing of when states banned or allowed same-sex marriage, we employ a staggered difference-in-differences approach to compare changes in municipal bond yields in areas that adopted marriage bans to those that did not. We find that yield spreads of county bonds issued in states that banned same-sex marriage increased by 17 basis points relative to areas without such bans, suggesting higher ex-ante borrowing costs for governments instituting these policies. The effects are concentrated in counties with larger LGBTQ+ populations and stronger public support for marriage equality. Analysis of mechanisms points to negatively impacted business operations, unfavorable migration patterns, and reduced household formation and consumer spending as potential channels underlying the municipal yield increases in marriage ban states. Furthermore, we document differential effects based on bond maturity, credit rating, and purpose. Overall, our findings highlight that policies restricting LGBTQ+ rights can meaningfully impact the public finances of local governments through anticipated economic consequences. These effects on municipal borrowing costs represent an underexplored fiscal implication of expanding or contracting civil rights for same-sex couples.

Transgender Earnings Gaps in the United States: Evidence from Administrative Data

Christopher S. Carpenter
,
Vanderbilt University
Lucas Goodman
,
U.S. Department of Treasury
Maxine Lee
,
San Francisco State University

Abstract

We provide the first evidence on transgender earnings effects in the US using administrative data on over 55,000 individuals who changed their gender marker with the Social Security Administration and had gender-consistent first name changes on tax records. The transgender sample has increased in size over time and has younger female-to-male than male-to-female transitions, both consistent with true gender affirmations. A within-person panel design and a siblings design both return evidence of a transgender earnings penalty of 6 to 12 log points.

Changing Legal Gender With or Without Mandated Sterilization — Impacts on Transgender Health and Earnings

Ylva Moberg
,
Swedish Institute for Social Research and Stockholm University.
Lucas Tilley
,
Swedish Institute for Social Research and Stockholm University
Emma von Essen
,
Uppsala University
Rinni Norlinder
,
Uppsala University

Abstract

Until January 2013, Sweden required transgender people undergo surgical removal of the reproductive organs before changing their legal gender. This sterilization mandate severely restricted access to legal gender recognition and may have had detrimental impacts on transgender individuals’ mental, physical, and economic well-being. Using population-wide administrative Swedish data, we evaluate whether removing the sterilization mandate led to (1) an increase in legal gender changes and (2) shifts in labor market and health outcomes during a legal gender transition. Our analysis shows that the number of legal gender changes more than tripled in the first quarter after the requirement was abolished and remained elevated. Although it was no longer a requirement, 68% of trans women and 45% of trans men underwent sterilization within five years of changing legal gender, usually as part of genital reconstructive surgery. Thus, for many, the abolishment primarily affected the timing of their legal gender change relative to surgery. Nevertheless, a substantial share of the transgender population preferred to change their legal gender without sterilizing surgery when this was no longer required. Comparing individuals who changed legal gender in 2010–2012 (the pre-2013 cohort) to those who did so in 2013–2016 (the post-2013 cohort), we find that annual labor earnings increased more rapidly for the post-2013 cohort. Additionally, the post-2013 cohort experienced lower levels of sick leave in some years, especially around the year of legal gender change. However, most differences between cohorts are imprecise and statistically insignificant. The low labor market earnings and employment rates that we document, as well as high dependence of sick leave and mood stabilizing medication, underlines the precarious situation of transgender people in Sweden, both before and after the sterilization mandate was removed.

Discussant(s)
Lee Badgett
,
University of Massachusetts-Amherst
Daniel G. Garrett
,
University of Pennsylvania
Lucas Tilley
,
Swedish Institute for Social Research
Maxine Lee
,
San Francisco State University
JEL Classifications
  • J1 - Demographic Economics
  • I1 - Health