In more gender-equal countries, differences between men and women are larger for innate preferences and smaller for socially constructed interests

The Gender Gap in Preferences: Evidence from 45,397 Facebook Interests. Ángel Cuevas, Rubén Cuevas, Klaus Desmet & Ignacio Ortuño-Ortín. NBER Working Paper 29451, November 2021. https://www.nber.org/papers/w29451

Abstract: This paper uses information on the frequency of 45,397 Facebook interests to study how the difference in preferences between men and women changes with a country's degree of gender equality. For preference dimensions that are systematically biased toward the same gender across the globe, differences between men and women are larger in more gender-equal countries. In contrast, for preference dimensions with a gender bias that varies across countries, the opposite holds. This finding takes an important step toward reconciling evolutionary psychology and social role theory as they relate to gender. 

The demographic transition (he move from a high fertility/high mortality regime into a low fertility/low mortality regime) in 186 countries for more than 250 years

Demographic Transitions Across Time and Space. Matthew J. Delventhal, Jesus Fernandez-Villaverde, Nezih Guner. November 6, 2021. https://www.sas.upenn.edu/~jesusfv/Demographic_Transitions.pdf

Abstract: The demographic transition –the move from a high fertility/high mortality regime into a low fertility/low mortality regime– is one of the most fundamental transformations that countries undertake. To study demographic transitions across time and space, we compile a data set of birth and death rates for 186 countries spanning more than 250 years. We document that (i) a demographic transition has been completed or is ongoing in nearly every country; (ii) the speed of transition has increased over time; and (iii) having more neighbors that have started the transition is associated with a higher probability of a country beginning its own transition. To account for these observations, we build a quantitative model in which parents choose child quantity and educational quality. Countries differ in geographic location, and improved production and medical technologies diffuse outward from Great Britain. Our framework replicates well the timing and increasing speed of transitions. It also produces a correlation between the speeds of fertility transition and increases in schooling similar to the one in the data.

Keywords: Demographic transition, skill-biased technological change, diffusion.

JEL codes: J13, N3, O11, O33, O40

Workplace premiums associated with teams of professionals have increased, while premiums for previously high-paid blue-collar workers have been cut

Consolidated Advantage: New Organizational Dynamics of Wage Inequality. Nathan Wilmers, Clem Aeppli. American Sociological Review, December 1, 2021. https://doi.org/10.1177/00031224211049205

Abstract: The two main axes of inequality in the U.S. labor market—occupation and workplace—have increasingly consolidated. In 1999, the largest share of employment at high-paying workplaces was blue-collar production workers, but by 2017 it was managers and professionals. As such, workers benefiting from a high-paying workplace are increasingly those who already benefit from membership in a high-paying occupation. Drawing on occupation-by-workplace data, we show that up to two-thirds of the rise in wage inequality since 1999 can be accounted for not by occupation or workplace inequality alone, but by this increased consolidation. Consolidation is not primarily due to outsourcing or to occupations shifting across a fixed set of workplaces. Instead, consolidation has resulted from new bases of workplace pay premiums. Workplace premiums associated with teams of professionals have increased, while premiums for previously high-paid blue-collar workers have been cut. Yet the largest source of consolidation is bifurcation in the social sector, whereby some previously low-paying but high-professional share workplaces, like hospitals and schools, have deskilled their jobs, while others have raised pay. Broadly, the results demonstrate an understudied way that organizations affect wage inequality: not by directly increasing variability in workplace or occupation premiums, but by consolidating these two sources of inequality.

Keywords: wage inequality, stratification, organizations, workplaces, occupations

A Polygenic Score for Educational Attainment Partially Predicts Voter Turnout

A Polygenic Score for Educational Attainment Partially Predicts Voter Turnout. Christopher T. Dawes et al. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, December 5, 2021. http://users.econ.umn.edu/~rusti001/Research/Genetics/VotingPNASAll.pdf

Abstract: Twin and adoption studies have shown that individual differences in political participation can be explained in part by genetic variation. However, these research designs cannot identify which genes are related to voting or the pathways through which they exert influence, and their conclusions rely on possibly restrictive assumptions. In this study, we use three different US samples and a Swedish sample to test whether genes that have been identified as associated with educational attainment, one of the strongest correlates of political participation, predict self-reported and validated voter turnout. We find that a polygenic score capturing individuals’ genetic propensity to acquire education is significantly related to turnout. The strongest associations we observe are in second-order midterm elections in the US and EU Parliament elections in Sweden, which tend to be viewed as less important by voters, parties, and the media and thus present a more information-poor electoral environment for citizens to navigate. A within-family analysis suggests that individuals’ education-linked genes directly affect their voting behavior but for second-order elections, it also reveals evidence of genetic nurture. Finally, a mediation analysis suggests that educational attainment and cognitive ability combine to account for between 41% and 63% of the relationship between the genetic propensity to acquire education and voter turnout depending on the type of election.

Sexual and romantic relationships among people experiencing homelessness: A scoping review

Czechowski, K., Turner, K. A., Labelle, P. R., & Sylvestre, J. (2021). Sexual and romantic relationships among people experiencing homelessness: A scoping review. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, Dec 2021. https://doi.org/10.1037/ort0000583

Abstract: Homelessness is widely recognized as a pervasive issue. Despite increasing research on factors affecting the health and well-being of people who are homeless, one that remains relatively understudied is the role of romantic and sexual relationships. Given that this population has the same needs for intimacy and closeness as anyone else, it is important to understand how these relationships occur, what barriers exist in developing and maintaining them, and what is their impact. This scoping review aimed to (a) characterize the nature of research that has examined sexual and romantic relationships among people who are homeless and (b) identify and synthesize the findings of studies that examined romantic and sexual relationships among people who are homeless. Of 539 studies that examined sexual or romantic relationships among people who are homeless, 88.87% examined sexual health risk, 11.13% examined sexual victimization, 5.57% examined survival sex, and 2.41% examined consensual sexual or romantic relationships. Of the studies that examined consensual sexual or romantic relationships substantially (n = 13) all used qualitative methods and identified common themes such as love, romance, and emotional support; partner relationships as transactional; barriers to partner relationships; and casual sex and pleasure. Despite the possible benefits of sexual and romantic relationships in the context of homelessness, researchers instead have primarily focused on possible risks associated with sex. We introduce how sexual citizenship can be applied to understand how current practices and policies limit people’s civic participation when homeless.