Working Papers
The Impact of Wage Subsidies on the Gender Division of Labor: The Case of Turkey
No.
1421
Publisher
ERF
Date
November, 2020
Topic
H2. Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue
J4. Particular Labor Markets
D6. Welfare Economics
J2. Demand and Supply of Labor
J1. Demographic Economics
This paper investigates the employment effects of the employment subsidy programs implemented in Turkey since 2008. The Turkish Government put into practice active labor market programs to generate new employment for all women and younger men, the relatively disadvantaged groups in the Turkish labor market. We use a nationally representative microlevel dataset and a difference-in-differences approach to estimate these programs' causal effects. Although these incentive programs are relatively costly, they impact the gender division of labor, especially in the low-skilled blue-collar jobs and high-skilled white-collar jobs. These wage subsidies result, on average, a 1.2 ppt increase, and at most, a 3.5 ppt increase in the share of women in newly hired workers in high-skilled white-collar jobs.
Authors
Hüseyin Ikizler
Assistant Professor, OSTIM Technical University
Authors
Çağla Ökten
Associate Professor, Bilkent University