Why she won
The Nobel committee announced today that Harvard economist Claudia Goldin won the Nobel Prize in economics.1 Officially, the prize is awarded to Goldin for:
significantly advancing our understanding of women’s labour market outcomes. Goldin’s masterful account of the economic history of women has provided novel facts about the many dimensions of the gender differences in the labour market, and uncovered both the driving forces of these gaps over time and the gaps that remain today.
As the Nobel committee’s report makes clear, Goldin has made three major contributions to economics:
1. Understanding gender gaps through historical lenses
Throughout the world, women’s jobs have transitioned from the home to the marketplace over the last century. Comparing gender gaps across different countries today, we find significant variations; for instance, the current women’s labour force participation rate in India mirrors that of the US in 1900. By analyzing this shift through a historical perspective, Goldin identified the forces that drove these changes, helping us to predict potential future developments.2 Such a long-term perspective can reveal gradual developments like technological advancements, educational progress, and changes in fertility that might not be immediately noticeable.
2. The economic framework of female labour market outcomes
Before the work of Goldin, there was no coherent methodology for studying women’s labour outcomes. Earlier research presented contradictory facts, and their explanations were sometimes oversimplified. Goldin introduced a comprehensive economic framework that tied education, fertility, and productivity to the evolution of women’s goals and societal roles. By applying a supply-and-demand lens, she elucidated how female labour market outcomes have evolved, emphasizing how societal norms, institutional barriers, and the responsibilities of family life impact women’s decisions about entering the labour market. Her research debunked some previously held beliefs. She revealed, for instance, that the US female labour market participation follows a U-shaped trajectory over time, contradicting the idea that it merely increased with development. She also pointed to key influencers of these trends, like the birth control pill, which allowed women to control their fertility and invest more in their careers.3
3. Contemporary gender gaps and policy implications
Even though women often surpass men in educational attainment and have similar professional enrollment rates in modern high-income countries, significant gender earnings gaps persist. Goldin found that the primary reason for this disparity emerges upon childbirth, with women often facing wage penalties due to workplace inflexibility and societal expectations. Her body of work, a fusion of history and economics, provides profound insights for policymakers aiming to address labour market gender disparities. It underscores the need to comprehend the root causes of these disparities before implementing policies, even in crisis times like Covid-19.4 She has emphasized that societal norms evolve slowly, and impactful change may take time as it typically unfolds with the decisions of new generations entering the workforce.
In what can only be pure coincidence (given the secretive nature of the Nobel decision and the way NBER working papers are circulated), Goldin has a new NBER Working Paper out today with the great title: Why Women Won.
In it, she investigates how women in the US gained legal rights equal to men in various sectors of the economy and society long after securing voting rights. While initial steps in women’s rights can be traced back to the civil rights movement, a significant 45% of the pivotal moments in women’s rights history took place between 1963 and 1973, propelled by the increased employment of women, the growth of women’s rights associations, political influence, and dedicated members of Congress. However, alongside these advancements, there emerged a strong anti-feminist movement led by women, echoing sentiments from those who opposed female suffrage earlier in the 20th century; this movement, Goldin concludes, continues to be influential today.
This exemplifies why Claudia Goldin’s work is insightful, innovative, profound, and timely.
Finally, although Goldin is celebrated for her work on women in the labour market, it is useful to reflect on her earlier economic history contributions too, notably on slave emancipation, a topic of great interest to Stellenbosch researchers. Her 1973 JEH paper, for example, discussed the economics of slave emancipation, focusing on the mechanisms through which slaves were transitioned into freedom.5 Because slaves were viewed as property, various compensation methods or extended service terms were used before full emancipation. The costs and benefits of emancipation schemes, the potential costs of the Civil War in relation to these schemes, and the potential economic implications for both the North and South affected emancipation.
It is, of course, fantastic to have an economic historian win the Nobel. It is even more enjoyable if she has traits that make her a role model. In June, I sent her an email with a draft paper on the impact of the Spanish flu on women’s work. Having not met her before, I half expected her not to reply. Not only did she respond the next day, but she also gave fantastic comments and suggestions for improvement.
Congratulations, Prof Goldin, on a much-deserved Nobel.
‘Why women won’ was first published on Our Long Walk. Support more such writing by signing up for a paid subscription. The image was created with Midjourney v5.2.
Yes, it is formally the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel.
Goldin, C., 2021. Career and family: Women’s century-long journey toward equity. Princeton University Press.
Goldin, C. and Katz, L.F., 2002. The power of the pill: Oral contraceptives and women’s career and marriage decisions. Journal of Political Economy, 110(4), pp.730-770.
Goldin, C., 2022. Understanding the economic impact of COVID-19 on women (No. w29974). National Bureau of Economic Research.
Goldin, C.D., 1973. The economics of emancipation. The Journal of Economic History, 33(1), pp.66-85.