Managers and the cultural transmission of gender norms

Managers and the cultural transmission of gender norms

Virginia Minni (Chicago Booth)

You may follow the seminar at the following link.

ABSTRACT:

This paper studies how managers’ gender attitudes shape workplace culture and gender inequality. Using data from a multinational firm operating in over 100 countries, we leverage cross-country manager rotations to identify the effects of male managers’ gender attitudes on gender pay gaps within a team. Managers from countries with one standard deviation more progressive gender attitudes reduce the pay gap by 5 percentage points (18%), largely through higher promotion rates for women. These effects persist after managers rotate out and are strongest in more conservative countries. Managers with progressive attitudes also influence the local office culture, as local managers who interact with but are not under the purview of the foreign manager begin to have smaller pay gaps in their teams. Our evidence points to individual managers as critical in shaping corporate culture.

BIO:

Virginia Minni’s research focuses on questions in labor, organizational, and development economics. Her research projects involve collaborations with organizations to examine the factors that determine the allocation and production of talent in labor markets, and the role individual leaders play in shaping this process. Virginia received a Ph.D. in Economics from the London School of Economics (LSE). Before joining Booth, she was a Post-Doctoral Fellow at the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS).