AbstractDemographic shocks tied to World War I's high death toll induced many women to enter the labour force in the immediate post-war period. I document a positive impact of these newly employed women on the labour force participation of subsequent generations of women until today. I also find that the war permanently altered attitudes toward the role of women in the labour force. I decompose this impact into three channels of intergenerational transmission: transmission from mothers to daughters, transmission from mothers-in-law to daughters-in-law via their sons and transmission through local social interactions.
This article explores the pathways that underlie the diffusion of women's participation in the labor force across generations. I exploit a severe exogenous shock to the sex ratio, World War I in France, which generated a large inflow of women in the labor force after the war. I show that this shock to female labor transmitted to subsequent generations until today. Three mechanisms of intergenerational transmission account for this result: parental transmission, transmission through marriage, and transmission through local social interactions. Beyond behaviors, the war also permanently altered beliefs toward the role of women in the labor force.
This article explores the pathways that underlie the diffusion of women's participation in the labor force across generations. I exploit a severe exogenous shock to the sex ratio, World War I in France, which generated a large inflow of women in the labor force after the war. I show that this shock to female labor transmitted to subsequent generations until today. Three mechanisms of intergenerational transmission account for this result: parental transmission, transmission through marriage, and transmission through local social interactions. Beyond behaviors, the war also permanently altered beliefs toward the role of women in the labor force.
This article describes a comprehensive geographic information system of Third-Republic France: the TRF-GIS. It provides annual nomenclatures and shapefiles of administrative constituencies of metropolitan France from 1870 to 1940, encompassing general administrative constituencies (départements, arrondissements, cantons) as well as the most significant special administrative constituencies: military, judicial and penitentiary, electoral, academic, labor inspection, and ecclesiastical constituencies. It further proposes annual nomenclatures at the contemporaneous commune level that map each municipality into its corresponding administrative framework along with its population count. The 901 nomenclatures, 830 shapefiles, and complete reproduction material along with primary sources of the TRF-GIS database are available at https://dataverse.harvard.edu/dataverse/TRF-GIS.
International audience ; This article describes a comprehensive geographic information system of Third-Republic France: the TRF-GIS. It provides annual nomenclatures and shapefiles of administrative constituencies of metropolitan France from 1870 to 1940, encompassing general administrative constituencies (départements, arrondissements, cantons) as well as the most significant special administrative constituencies: military, judicial and penitentiary, electoral, academic, labor inspection, and ecclesiastical constituencies. It further proposes annual nomenclatures at the contemporaneous commune level that map each municipality into its corresponding administrative framework along with its population count. The 901 nomenclatures, 830 shapefiles, and complete reproduction material along with primary sources of the TRF-GIS database are available at https://dataverse.harvard.edu/dataverse/TRF-GIS. ; Cet article décrit un système d'information géographique de la France de la Troisième République : le TRF-GIS. Cette base de données met à disposition nomenclatures et shapefiles annuels correspondant aux circonscriptions administratives de France métropolitaine de 1870 à 1940. Elle décrit les circonscriptions administratives générales (départements, arrondissements, cantons) ainsi que les circonscriptions militaires, judiciaires, pénitentiaires, électorales, académiques, ecclésiastiques, et les inspections du travail. Elle met aussi à disposition des nomenclatures annuelles établissant une correspondance entre chaque commune contemporaine et les circonscriptions auxquelles elle appartenait. Les 901 nomenclatures, 830 shapefiles et le matériel complet de reproduction ainsi que les sources primaires de la base TRF-GIS sont disponibles à l'adresse https://dataverse.harvard.edu/dataverse/TRF-GIS.
International audience ; This article describes a comprehensive geographic information system of Third-Republic France: the TRF-GIS. It provides annual nomenclatures and shapefiles of administrative constituencies of metropolitan France from 1870 to 1940, encompassing general administrative constituencies (départements, arrondissements, cantons) as well as the most significant special administrative constituencies: military, judicial and penitentiary, electoral, academic, labor inspection, and ecclesiastical constituencies. It further proposes annual nomenclatures at the contemporaneous commune level that map each municipality into its corresponding administrative framework along with its population count. The 901 nomenclatures, 830 shapefiles, and complete reproduction material along with primary sources of the TRF-GIS database are available at https://dataverse.harvard.edu/dataverse/TRF-GIS.
This article describes a comprehensive geographic information system of Third-Republic France: the TRF-GIS. It provides annual nomenclatures and shapefiles of administrative constituencies of metropolitan France from 1870 to 1940, encompassing general administrative constituencies (départements, arrondissements, cantons) as well as the most significant special administrative constituencies: military, judicial and penitentiary, electoral, academic, labor inspection, and ecclesiastical constituencies. It further proposes annual nomenclatures at the contemporaneous commune level that map each municipality into its corresponding administrative framework along with its population count. The 901 nomenclatures, 830 shapefiles, and complete reproduction material along with primary sources of the TRF-GIS database are available at https://dataverse.harvard.edu/dataverse/TRF-GIS.
This paper explores the pathways that underlie the diffusion of women's participation in the labor force across generations. I exploit a severe exoge-nous shock to the sex ratio, World War I in France, which generated a large inflow of women in the labor force after the war. I show that this shock to female labor transmitted to subsequent generations until today. Three mechanisms of intergenerational transmission account for this result: parental transmission, transmission through marriage, and transmission through local social interactions. Beyond behaviors, the war also permanently altered beliefs toward the role of women in the labor force. (JEL J16, J22, N34, Z13)
Appendix available at: https://sites.google.com/site/victorgayeco/research ; In this dissertation, I provide a comprehensive analysis of the short and long-run impact of World War I military fatalities on female labor force participation in France. In chapter 1, I describe the measure of military death rates used throughout the dissertation and explore its sources of systematic variation. In chapter 2, I show that the scarcity of men resulting from the war generated an upward shift in female labor force participation that persisted throughout the interwar period. Increased female labor supply accounts for this result: deteriorated marriage market conditions for single women and negative income shocks to war widows induced many of these women to enter the labor force after the war. In contrast, firms did not increase their demand for female labor to compensate for the scarcity of men. I further show in chapter 3 that this initial shock to female labor transmitted across generations up until today. Three primary mechanisms account for this historical persistence: vertical intergenerational transmission (from mothers and fathers to daughters), transmission through marriage (from husbands to wives, and from mothers in-law to daughters in-law), and oblique intergenerational transmission (from migrants to non-migrants). Consistent with theories ofintergenerational transmission, I also provide evidence that World War I military fatalities permanently altered preferences and beliefs toward female labor. ; Cette thèse propose une analyse des conséquences à court et à long terme des morts militaires de la Première Guerre Mondiale sur le travail des femmes en France. Le premier chapitre décrit la mesure du taux de mortalité militaire utilisée tout au long de la thèse et explore ses sources de variation systématique. Le second chapitre montre que la pénurie d'hommes résultant de la guerre a généré une augmentation du travail des femmes qui a persisté tout au long de l'entre-deux-guerres. Une augmentation de l'offre de ...
This article describes a comprehensive geographic information system of Third-Republic France: the TRF-GIS. It provides annual nomenclatures and shapefiles of administrative constituencies of metropolitan France from 1870 to 1940, encompassing general administrative constituencies (départements, arrondissements, cantons) as well as the most significant special administrative constituencies: military, judicial and penitentiary, electoral, academic, labor inspection, and ecclesiastical constituencies. It further proposes annual nomenclatures at the contemporaneous commune level that map each municipality into its corresponding administrative framework along with its population count. The 901 nomenclatures, 830 shapefiles, and complete reproduction material along with primary sources of the TRF-GIS database are available at https://dataverse.harvard.edu/dataverse/TRF-GIS.
International audience ; Using spatial variation in World War I military fatalities in France, we show that the scarcity of men due to the war generated an upward shift in female labor force participation that persisted throughout the interwar period. Available data suggest that increased female labor supply accounts for this result. In particular, deteriorated marriage market conditions for single women and negative income shocks to war widows induced many of these women to enter the labor force after the war. In contrast, demand factors such as substitution toward female labor to compensate for the scarcity of male labor were of second-order importance.
International audience ; Using spatial variation in World War I military fatalities in France, we show that the scarcity of men due to the war generated an upward shift in female labor force participation that persisted throughout the interwar period. Available data suggest that increased female labor supply accounts for this result. In particular, deteriorated marriage market conditions for single women and negative income shocks to war widows induced many of these women to enter the labor force after the war. In contrast, demand factors such as substitution toward female labor to compensate for the scarcity of male labor were of second-order importance.
