Interview Amongst Marianne Bertrand: Inequality, Sex Norms, Skills

Douglas Clement has an "Interview with Marianne Bertrand," subtitled "University of Chicago economist on the drinking glass ceiling, implications of growing inequality too the problem alongside boys" (The Region, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, online June 19, 2018).  Here are a few of the comments that especially stuck alongside me, but there's to a greater extent than at the interview.

The Gender Norm that Men Should Out-earn Women inward Married Couples

"The thought of the newspaper was to focus on the item sex identity norm, which is the thought that men should earn to a greater extent than than their wives. It’s an interesting ane to focus on because it’s a norm that may alone bring dice binding today. It may non bring been that relevant inward the past times because women were much less probable to bring the potential to out-earn their husbands, too directly they do. So the thought of the newspaper was to investigate the empirical relevance of this norm amid households equally good equally its implications. ... 

"This was item number ane inward the paper. Let’s create something real simple: Look at the distribution of relative income of married adult woman too married adult man inside couples. If this norm is important, nosotros should see, quote-unquote, “too few” couples where the married adult woman earns to a greater extent than than her husband. And this is precisely what nosotros flora inward administrative data; that’s the painting that we’re looking at right there.

"And then, inward a sense, starting from this picture, nosotros tried to figure out where this could last coming from. One possibility is that those “missing” couples where the married adult woman earns to a greater extent than than her married adult man may never acquire formed, pregnant that it’s something virtually the matrimony market. ... Another argue why this painting may be is that those, quote-unquote, “missing” couples were less stable. So they existed, but they were to a greater extent than probable to suspension down. And nosotros also flora evidence of that inward the data. Looking at couples where the wives earn to a greater extent than than the husbands, nosotros flora signs of to a greater extent than marital instability, to a greater extent than marital unhappiness too some signs that these couples were to a greater extent than probable to goal upward inward divorce."

Thoughts virtually Divergence inward Types of Consumption too inward Political Views

"We were talking virtually income inequality, too ane of our colleagues said, basically, “Well, at the goal of the day, who cares? Yes, perhaps we’re growing apart economically, but on Lord's Day all nosotros all create is lookout TV. We are growing apart economically, but our lives may non last that different; they may, inward fact, bring converged.”

"So, this is sort of an interesting point. How much tin nosotros say virtually how the lives of the rich too the misfortunate changed? Let’s endeavour to pose together all of the information sets that nosotros tin recollect of over the longest fourth dimension menses that nosotros tin too say something virtually what it’s similar to last rich, which nosotros define equally the transcend quartile of the income distribution, versus poor, which nosotros define equally the bottom quartile. What was it similar several decades ago? What is it similar today? ...

"I similar to operate the event yous mentioned, social mobility. Suppose nosotros piece of job at the same company. You are my boss. I’m your employee. You’re from the transcend of the income distribution, too I’m from the bottom. My powerfulness to motility upward inward the companionship mightiness last a constituent of how much yous connect alongside me, too connecting alongside ane some other mightiness last a constituent of the lineament of the conversation that nosotros tin bring to a greater extent than or less the H2O cooler. Did nosotros create the same affair over the weekend? Do nosotros lookout the same shows? Do nosotros bring the same hobbies too consume the same food?

"So nosotros tried to get together all the information sets nosotros could; for example, time-use data, which dice dorsum to the 1960s. Another information laid upward that a lot of social scientists operate is the General Social Survey, which tells us something virtually views too opinions—views on abortion, gays, racial issues, authorities spending too the like. ... [W]e had access to a marketing information set, which is genuinely remarkable. In that information set, nosotros tin run across media consumption—what TV shows people watch, what movies they watch, what magazines they read. The information laid upward also shows thousands of products that people may or may non buy, too thousands of brands that people may or may non purchase or own.

"Then nosotros built a metric of cultural distance betwixt groups past times income. There are many ways yous could mensurate distance. We operate a machine-learning algorithm too aggregate a number of methods that permit us to observe the best model to predict someone’s income based on the brands or products they study consuming or the attitudes the mortal has. ...

"The principal headline number of the newspaper is that most of the tendency lines are flat. Our powerfulness to predict someone’s income based on the consumption of item goods too brands is essentially the same today equally it was 25 years ago. There’s no tendency inward our powerfulness to predict people’s income based on how they pass their fourth dimension today, compared to unopen to fifty years ago. The alone expanse where nosotros run across some slight evidence of difference on income is alongside abide by to social attitudes, where our powerfulness to predict people’s income based on what they think, their views, is slightly improve today than it was inward the early on 1970s. ...

"[N]ow we’ve done this exercise, equally I said, for race, sex too urbanicity. When nosotros kickoff got these results on income, people said, especially inward the context of the recent election, “Well, income is non the of import one; it’s urban/rural. That’s the of import separate inward America.” We’ve also done it based on political attitudes, too the principal result, which I only gave yous for income—there’s no large trend—essentially applies to, at a first-level of approximation, everything that nosotros bring looked at.

"The ane actually large exception quantitatively is our powerfulness to predict whether someone is liberal or conservative/Democrat or Republican based on their social attitudes. That has been increasing over time. So liberals too conservatives haven’t been diverging over fourth dimension on TV consumption, brands or goods, but on social views they bring been diverging a lot over time.

"The results were surprising to us. We went into this alongside inward the dorsum of our hear the give-and-take that’s happening right directly [that Americans are increasingly divided along economical too other lines], too nosotros actually thought that nosotros were going to run across signs of that inward the data.

"How create I rationalize the results? It’s non clear, but here’s ane thought when it comes to products too brands. I recollect today nosotros recollect yous tin easily run across who is rich or misfortunate because rich people ain an iPhone too misfortunate people don’t; but, then, 25 years ago, it was whether yous owned a DVD actor that separated rich too poor. There are waves of technological changes—the rich, the to a greater extent than educated are ever going to last the early on adopters of those—but at that spot are constant waves of technological change."

 The Gender Gap inward Cognitive Skills is Bigger inward Broken Families

"[T]he sex gap inward noncognitive skills is especially large inward broken families. And that term tin hateful many unlike things. It’s depression income, it’s absent fathers, it’s less education, it’s fewer parental inputs. ... If yous bring boys doing to a greater extent than poorly inward broken families, that agency that a lot of these boys dice less marriageable. That agency to a greater extent than unmarried moms too to a greater extent than broken families inward the time to come too hence, again, to a greater extent than boys growing upward inward weather condition where they may non acquire the sort of parenting that could address whatever deficiencies they bring inward noncognitive skills. ... One declaration nosotros build inward the newspaper is that boys may last born at greater adventure of having noncognitive problems than girls. ... And if that’s true, too so it’s especially of import to bring stronger parenting for boys than girls inward lodge to right this deficit. But, again, that’s highly speculative."

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