A Dynamic Gender Analysis of Spain's Pension Reforms of 2011

Abstract

Gender differences in the labor market have been widely studied and discussed in terms of both research and public policy. One of the contributions of feminist economics has been to analyze and demonstrate links between gendered labor market experience and retirement incomes. This paper presents a methodology to study the dynamics of gender differences among retirees in Spain. The study provides a way to predict the effects of government policies proposed in 2011 that change the institutional framework of social security systems in an effort to address the fiscal challenges of an aging population.     

Gender Inequality in the Spanish Public Pension System

This contribution studies revenue sharing in the public pension system in Spain from a gender perspective, revealing that differences are evident in the percentage of men and women entitled to different types of pensions and in the average fiscal amount per pension for men and women. Using 2010 data, the study analyzes how labor market conditions are reflected in pension type and amount for women pensioners, yielding two important conclusions: the income of women pensioners decreases, relative to men, with age; and the degree of inequality of pensions among women is lower than that among men. These gender differences owe to the contributory character of the system, which reproduces the labor market inequalities of both genders – inequalities that ultimately derive from the social division of roles in which women remain responsible for unpaid care work. This conclusion is consistent with similar studies on other European countries and world regions.     

Firm Performance and Women on the Board: Evidence from Spanish Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises

ABSTRACT

This study examines gender diversity on boards of directors in a sample of nonfinancial Spanish small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) for 2003–8, finding that the probability of women on the board increases with firm performance, defined as return on assets, and family ownership, but diminishes with corporate ownership and firm risk. It also finds, when examining the full sample, a positive effect of the presence of women board members on firm performance. The study also obtains a similar positive effect in most subsamples, including in firms with corporate ownership, where family connections play less role in the election of board members, and in firms in the secondary and tertiary sectors, which are characterized by having greater proximity to final consumers than those in the primary sector.     

The Editorial Boards of Italian Economics Journals: Women,Gender, and Social Networking

In Italy, women's advancement in economics has been curtailed by the structure of editorial boards of Italian economics journals. In this paper, we examine the presence of men and women economists on the editorial boards of thirty-six Italian economics journals published since 1970 and analyze the gender distribution across different kinds of boards, roles, and fields. Because boards are hierarchically ordered, women work mostly in the lower positions, and the increase in women's participation has led only to more "editorial secretaries." Since men and women tend to have different scientific interests and men's standards of academic value prevail, women economists cannot build publication records as strong as those of their male colleagues, which, in turn, affects women's hiring, promotion, and wages, as well as the shape of the discipline.     

"All Decisions Are Top-Down:" Engendering Public Expenditure in Vietnam

Between October 1999 and June 2000 a joint government-donor working group undertook a public expenditure review in Vietnam that was supposed to use "gender issues" as a cross-cutting theme. The article discusses ways in which a gender analysis could have been incorporated into a review of public expenditure, and examines why this did not happen in the end. Flaws in the process reduced the scope of gender analysis. Institutional constraints on the part of both the government and the World Bank weakened the commitment to a gender analysis. More fundamentally, however, it is argued that the methodological approach of the World Bank rendered it incapable of investigating possibly unquantifiable macrostructural and mesoinstitutional determinants of individual behavior. It is further argued that the conceptualization of social institutions offered by the World Bank with regard to gender relations fails to adequately express the extent to which social institutions are gendered.     

Is There Any Gender effect on the Relationship Between Service Quality and Word-of-Mouth?

Gender is an important discriminator of market segment in the service industry. When considering the word-of-mouth (WOM) effect as a powerful tool of the market channel, it is vital to understand the characteristics of gender and to establish different strategies for providing services depending on how males and females deliver their perceptions of service quality to other people. This study examined the differential role of gender on the relationship between core/relational service qualities and WOM. Data from 277 travelers who have stayed in midscale hotels with Food and Beverage were analyzed. The results suggest there are within-gender differences in the effect of service qualities on word of mouth, but there is no significant difference across the genders.     

Race,Gender and Regional Labor Market Inequalities in Brazil

This study investigates the relationship between unequal regional development and racial and gender wage inequality in Brazil. Using sample data from the 1991 Brazilian census, I estimated monthly wages for a white, brown and black women and men working in the states of S"o Paulo and Bahia. The findings suggest that while women and Afro-Brazilians in Brazil's most developed region of S"o Paulo had the advantages of higher levels of state sponsored work benefits and more equitable occupational and wage distribution, they nevertheless experienced the greatest discrimination. In contrast, the less developed state of Bahia where racial and gender gaps in education, occupation and wages were the most severe, wage discrimination was lowest.     

Regulatory fit effects of gender and marketing message content

Many US adults do not get enough daily physical activity. To change behavior, governments and other agencies design marketing messages encouraging more physical activity. A lab experiment draws on Regulatory Focus Theory to examine health communication's persuasive effects on physical activity. This study identifies gender differences in chronic regulatory focus and shows that congruence between message regulatory focus and the message recipient's gender is effective, particularly for males. Results also show that emotions mediate regulatory fit effects on intentions. Further, chronic regulatory focus mediates these effects on emotions. Results inform implications for theory as well as for practitioners who design health-marketing messages.     

中国区域经济发展与空间结构的演变——基于改革开放30年时序变动的特征分析

文章从空间视角考察了改革开放30年来我国区域发展整体战略的演变路径和作用机制。分析认为,从不平衡向相对协调发展的区域发展战略转变取得了总体效率和空间平等相对较好的结合,区域改革开放也取得许多成功的经验,但由于东中西部地区联动发展的机制尚未形成,致使区域差距在不断扩大。因此,我国未来区域发展整体战略的目标应该是形成合理的空间结构,实现总体效率与空间结构的相对均衡,并通过空间集聚及加强区域经济联动等方式促进区域经济的协调发展,四轮驱动和主体功能区建设也将有助于我国经济在区域协调发展中保持持续稳定增长。     

消费者自我概念与品牌个性间关系的调节作用

本研究实证了消费者自我概念结构维度对品牌个性的相对影响力以及人口统计因素(性别、年龄)的调节效果.结果显示,在3个被研究的自我概念维度中,实际自我概念对品牌个性具有显著的积极影响;社会自我概念对品牌个性也具有显著的积极影响.理想自我概念对品牌个性的影响则未获统计学意义上的支持.而在性别和年龄等人口统计学因素调节下,消费者自我概念结构维度对品牌个性的关系强度存在显著的差异.这些研究结果对于实施基于消费者自我概念的品牌个性定位与推广战略具有理论意义和实务启示.