InequaliTalks – Détails, épisodes et analyse

Starting Wednesday, September 14th, InequaliTalks is starting its first spotlight series. To begin, we will be looking at gender inequality and interviewing three scholars whose research looks at the intersection of economics and patterns of gender inequality: Lorenzo Lagos, Xiaoyue Shan and Nina Roussille. Make sure to tune in!

Inequality is one of the most pressing issues in the public conversation. Economic research can help us find the tools to address it. Here is a quick taste of what's to come every second Wednesday. By Clémentine Van Effenterre

In recent decades, gender-based discrimination in the workplace has become a symbol of women’s fight for equality. In parallel, the role of unions in supporting underrepresented workers has grown into an unmatched tool to address inequity and intolerance. In this episode, Lorenzo Lagos tells us about his ongoing work on the power of unions in creating more female-friendly jobs. Looking at the bargaining strategy of Brazil’s largest trade union federation, he finds that including more gender-based quotas and female-centric amenities (childcare, maternity leave, etc.) highly contributes to making workplaces more accessible to women. Working Paper: « Collective Bargaining for Women: How Unions Create Female-Friendly Jobs », with Viola Corradini and Garima Sharma Most recent version (September 2022): https://www.dropbox.com/s/l27gndy0mxyyuze/CBFWpaperCLS.pdf?dl=0 Recommendation: “The Boss of it All”, by Lars Von Trier (2006) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0469754/

In recent years, decreasing federal minimum wage, low unionization rates and growing outsourcing trends have had some important effects on wage growth in the US low wage sector. As major firms throughout the world come under scrutiny for their failure to compensate their workers fairly, it is becoming increasingly necessary to better understand what motivates companies to mirror other larger firms’ wage changes. In this episode, Ellora Derenoncourt explains that when it comes to wage changes, just a few large employers in the labor market can have substantial ripple effects. Using the examples of firms like Amazon, Walmart and Target, she looks at why some companies feel compelled to follow in the footsteps of larger actors. Working Paper: “Spillover effects from voluntary employer minimum wages”, with Clemens Noelke, David Weil & Bledi Taska https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3793677 Recommendation: “On the Clock: What Low Wage Work Did to Me and How It Drives America Insane” (2019), by Emily Guendelsberger https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/42779084-on-the-clock

How do beliefs shape and determine our attitudes towards policies? In this episode, Thomas Douenne looks at carbon taxation in the context of the Yellow Vest Movement, and how French people rejected a tax & dividend policy which they assumed would negatively impact their purchasing power. Working Paper: “Yellow Vests, Pessimistic Beliefs and Carbon Tax Aversion”, with Adrien Fabre https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/pol.20200092&&from=f Recommendation: “The Tyranny of Merit: What’s Become of the Common Good?” (2020) by Michael J. Sandel https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/50364458-the-tyranny-of-merit

What are racial covenants? How do they target specific ethnic and religious minorities? And how do they affect present-day economic outcomes? In this episode, Aradhya Sood tells us about her research on the prevalence of racially-restrictive covenants during the early-to-mid 20th century, and how these contracts continue to impact house prices and promote racial segregation today. Working Paper: Long Shadow of Racial Discrimination: Evidence from Housing Covenants, with William Speagle and Kevin Ehrman-Solberg https://drive.google.com/file/d/1J8KdEYskg4l2WvBTOESTogftChaYr8yo/view Recommendation: Segregation by Design: Local Politics and Inequality in American Cities, Jessica Trounstine (2019) https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/segregation-by-design/9CEF629688C0C684EDC387407F5878F2

In recent decades, firms' decision to rely on contract labor over "in-house" workers has become increasingly prevalent. In this episode, Adrien Bilal tells us about his research on labor outsourcing and inequality in France. He explains that while domestic outsourcing may increase aggregate productivity, it nonetheless leads to oursourced workers suffering important wage losses. Paper: “Outsourcing, Inequality and Aggregate Output”, with H. Lhuillier (2021) https://drive.google.com/file/d/1hqW5FFkGqqdolZdHti4QIvTm6fLdqZvB/view Recommendation: Les Misérables, Ladj Ly (2019), with Damien Bonnard, Alexis Manenti and Djebril Zonga https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10199590/

What is affirmative action? How can it increase the representation of under-privileged groups in a given field? And how might it play out in the higher education sector? In this episode, Ana Paula Melo talks to us about her research on the impact of affirmative action policies on the access to college in Brazil. She tells us about the benefits and shortcomings of this policy, and what is still missing in the existing literature on the topic. Working Paper: Affirmative action and demand for schooling: evidence from nation-wide policies, with Ursula Mello Recommendation: "Transcendent Kingdom" (2020) by Yaa Gyasi https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/48570454-transcendent-kingdom

Evan K. Rose talks to us about his research on the relationship between human capital, company behavior and discrimination. Looking at the hiring procedures of over a hundred Fortune 500 firms across the US, Rose found that there were significant penalties for applicants belonging to gender and/or racial minorities. In this episode, Rose discusses the policy implications of this phenomenon, and the need for change in both institutional and internal practices. Paper: “Systemic Discrimination among Large U.S. Employers” by Patrick M. Kline, Evan K. Rose and Christopher R. Walters (2021) https://eml.berkeley.edu//~crwalters/papers/randres.pdf Recommendation: “The Anatomy of Racial Inequality” (2003) by Glenn C. Loury https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/330838.TheAnatomyofRacialInequality?fromsearch=true&fromsrp=true&qid=FRGe9JFpvD&rank=1

Why has wage inequality increased in the past 40 years in the United States? Why has corporate valuation skyrocketed? In this episode, Anna Stansbury presents her work with Larry Summers on how declining worker power better explains these recent trends in the American economy and what that means for inequality. Paper: “The Declining Worker Power Hypothesis” by Anna Stansbury and Lawrence Summers https://www.brookings.edu/bpea-articles/declining-worker-power-and-american-economic-performance/ Recommendation: “Working” by Studs Terkel https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/59649.Working