Misperceived Social Norms: Women Working Outside the Home in Saudi Arabia

Leonardo Bursztyn, Alessandra L. González, David Yanagizawa-DrottEconomics劳动经济学FT50

American Economic Review2020-09-28University of Chicago; University of ZurichDOI

Citations551

Influential22

References61

We show that the vast majority of young married men in Saudi Arabia privately support women working outside the home (WWOH) and substantially underestimate support by other similar men. Correcting these beliefs increases men’s (costly) willingness to help their wives search for jobs. Months later, wives of men whose beliefs were corrected are more likely to have applied and interviewed for a job outside the home. In a recruitment experiment with a local company, randomly informing women about actual support for WWOH leads them to switch from an at-home temporary enumerator job to a higher-paying, outside-the-home version of the job. (JEL D83, J16, J22, O15, Z13)

Demographic economicsJob lossPsychologySocial psychologySocial supportLabour economicsEconomicsEconomic growthGender, Labor, and Family DynamicsMigration and Labor DynamicsPoverty, Education, and Child Welfare