STT/STC Global Gender Wage Gap Study: Josefina Posadas and Mary Hallward-Driemeier

STT/STC Global Gender Wage Gap Study: Josefina Posadas and Mary Hallward-Driemeier

The World Bank Group is seeking to hire a short term consultant (STT/STC) to support the global gender wage gap study, under direction of Josefina Posadas and Mary Hallward-Driemeier.

Brief description of the study:

Differences in pay between men and women have been a concern among policy makers and researchers for decades. Gender differences in pay not only matter because we may want to live in a society that offers equal opportunities to its population, but also because they might reflect that the country is not living up to its full economic potential. However, there are less than a handful of studies that analyze the issue using cross-country data over the whole spectrum of development. The lack of evidence does not reflect the lack of importance of the topic to researchers and policy makers, but instead the lack of suitable data. Cross-country studies are probably the most suitable instrument to analyze the associations of any variable with social norms since they hardly change over time in a single country; and the associations with laws and policies that change sporadically over time. This proposal aims at filling this void and it aims at going beyond previous studies in several dimensions.

The study estimates raw gender gaps in pay for 131 economies and 545 economy/year data points. Second, it would provide regional time trends of the evolution of the gender gap in pay, including developing countries never covered before. Third, it performs decompositions of the gender gap in pay to account for differences in the wage structure effect (i.e. differences in the returns to skills between men and women) and in the composition effect (i.e. differences in skills and occupation choices between men and women) across countries. It employs decomposition techniques that explore gaps along the wage distribution. Moving from means to other distributional moments is important to identify ‘sticky floor’ and ‘glass ceiling’ effects. Finally, the study estimates correlations between the unexplained estimates of the gender gap in pay and variables reflecting the policies, the legal environment, and the prevalent social norms. Whenever possible, it aims to get closer to causal relations by comparing the unexplained terms before and after changes in legislation.

Terms:

The consultant will be hired as a Short Term Consultant/Short Term Temporary depending on the relevant experience and following the HR remuneration and guidelines of The World Bank Group. The expected duration of the contract is 150 working days, between January 2nd to June 30th 2015, conditional on good performance. The consultant is expected to work in the headquarters offices of The World Bank Group in Washington DC.

Selection criteria:

A master degree in economics is preferred.
Experience in data management and econometric analysis.
Ability to work in team and handle multiple tasks at the time.

Required Competencies:

Excellent data management skills in Stata and Excel.
Ability to program in Stata and carry on sophisticated.
Understanding on economic principles and labor economics.
Excellent oral and writing English.

Candidates interested in this position should email Josefina Posadas () before October 15, 2015. Please attach an updated CV, and three references with contact information.

STT/STC Evaluation of Birth Subsidy Study: Josefina Posadas and Gil Shapira

The World Bank Group is seeking to hire a short term consultant (STT/STC) to support the evaluation of the introduction of a birth subsidy in select East Europe and Central Asia countries, under direction of Josefina Posadas and Gil Shapira.

Brief description of the study:

Facing declining fertility rates, most countries in the East Europe and Central Asia (ECA) Region put in place policies to promote fertility. Policymakers hope that these policy interventions would alleviate the harsh fiscal pressures from pension spending associated with the aging of the population. Childbirth grants are a common instrument used by governments in ECA to this end. The schemes used in the region differ in several dimensions such as the target populations, the grant amounts, and how they vary by birth parity.

This project will study the impact of financial incentives to promote fertility in Armenia and Georgia, focusing on three primary research questions: (i) What is the effect of the childbirth grant on fertility rates in Armenia? (ii) How does response to the policy differ by socioeconomic background?, and (iii) Do the financial incentives on fertility have an indirect impact on the sex-imbalance at birth?

The study will employ a quasi-experimental identification approach, exploiting the policy change in 2009 and 2014. Different datasets will be used to create individual-level panel data containing fertility histories before and after the policy change.

Rigorous analyses of the impact of childbirth grants, taking advantage of policy changes and micro data, have only been conducted for a handful of high-income countries (to our knowledge). This research will add evidence from a middle-income country with a large poor population. The focus on son preference, relevant to the Armenian context, will provide a further contribution to the literature

Terms:

Selection criteria:

A master degree in economics is preferred.
Experience in data management and econometric analysis.
Ability to work in team and handle multiple tasks at the time.
Ability to work independently.

Required Competencies:

Excellent data management skills in Stata and Excel.
Ability to program in Stata and carry on sophisticated.
Understanding on economic principles and labor economics.
Excellent written and oral communication skills.

Candidates interested in this position should email Josefina Posadas () before October 15, 2015. Please attach an updated CV, and three references with contact information.