Required Readings
The complete reading list is available here. All required readings are included in the course reading packet, which is available from the ECON department office.
For each of the required readings listed below, you should complete the reading response exercise in gradescope before the class meeting where we will discuss each reading (reading-specific due dates are listed below).
1. Gender Norms Among Non-Human Primates
Hrdy, Sarah Blaffer. (1981) The Woman that Never Evolved.
Reading Guide: The Woman that Never Evolved
Reading Response: The Woman that Never Evolved (due Sunday 9/11)
2. Lessons from Ancient DNA
Reich, David. (2018) Who We Are and How We Got Here: Ancient DNA and the New Science of the Human Past, Chapters 1 through 6 and Chapter 10.
This will be handed out on the first day of class.
Reading Guide: Who We Are and How We Got Here
Reading Response: Who We Are and How We Got Here (due Sunday 9/19)
3. The Cow and The Plow, etc
Boserup, Ester. (1970) Women’s Role in Economic Development, Chapter 1 (“Male and Female Farming Systems”).
Reading Guide: Male and Female Farming Systems
Alesina, Alberto, Paola Giuliano, and Nathan Nunn. (2013) “On the Origins of Gender Roles: Women and the Plough,” Quarterly Journal of Economics, 128(2): 469-520.
Reading Guide: Women and the Plough
Reading Response: The Cow and the Plough Week (due Sunday 9/25)
4. Women in Ancient Civilizations
Trigger, Bruce. 2003. Understanding Early Civilizations, Chapter 2 (“Comparative Studies”, just skim this to get a sense of the overall scope of Trigger’s research project) and Chapter 9 (“Family Organization and Gender Roles”).
Reading Guide: Understanding Early Civilizations
Reading Response: Understanding Early Civilizations (due Sunday 10/2)
5. Women in Early Modern Europe
de Moor, Tine, and Jan Luiten van Zanden. (2010) “Girl power: The European marriage pattern and labor markets in the North Sea region in the late medieval and early modern period,” Economic History Review, 63(1): 1-33.
Oster, Emily. (2004) “Witchcraft, Weather, and Economic Growth in Renaissance Europe,” Journal of Economic Perspectives, 18(1): 215-228.
Reading Guide: Witchcraft, Weather and Economic Growth
Reading Response: Women in Early Modern Europe (due Sunday 10/16)
6. Missing Women and Investments in Girls
Sen, Amartya. (1990) “More than 100 Million Women Are Missing,” The New York Review of Books.
Jayachandran, Seema, and Rohini Pande. (2017) “Why Are Indian Children So Short? The Role of Birth Order and Son Preference,” American Economic Review, 107(9): 2600-2629.
Reading Guide: Why Are Indian Children So Short?
Qian, Nancy. (2008) “Missing Women and the Price of Tea in China: The Effect of Sex-Specific Earnings on Sex Imbalance,” Quarterly Journal of Economics, 123(3): 1251-85.
Reading Guide: Missing Women and the Price of Tea in China
Reading Response: Missing Women and Investments in Girls (due Saturday 10/22)
7. Girls’ Education and Women’s Employment Opportunities
Evans, David K., Maryam Akmal, and Pamela Jakiela. (2021) “Gender Gaps in Education: The Long View,” IZA Journal of Development and Migration, 12(1).
Reading Guide: Gender Gaps in Education
Jensen, Robert. (2012) “Do Labor market Opportunities Affect Young Women’s Work and Family Decisions? Experimental Evidence from India,” Quarterly Journal of Economics, 127(2): 753-792.
Reading Guide: Do Labor market Opportunities Affect Young Women’s Work and Family Decisions
Reading Response: Girls’ Education and Women’s Employment Opportunities (due Friday 10/28)
8. Labor Force Implications of Reproductive Choices
Goldin, Claudia, and Lawrence F. Katz. (2002) “The Power of the Pill: Oral Contraceptives and Women’s Career and Marriage Decisions,” Journal of Political Economy, 110(4): 730-770.
Reading Guide: The Power of the Pill
Reading Response: The Power of the Pill (due Friday 11/4)
9. The Behavioral Economics of Women’s Work
Niederle, Muriel, and Lise Vesterlund. (2007) “Do Women Shy Away from Competition? Do Men Compete Too Much?” Quarterly Journal of Economics, 122(3): 1067-1101.
Reading Guide: Do Women Shy Away from Competition?
Coffman, Katherine Baldiga. (2014) “Evidence on Self-Stereotyping and the Contribution of Ideas,” Quarterly Journal of Economics, 129(4): 1625-1660.
Reading Guide: Self-Stereotyping and the Contribution of Ideas
Dhar, Diva, Tarun Jain, and Seema Jayachandran. (2022) “Reshaping Adolescents’ Gender Attitudes: Evidence from a School-Based Experiment in India,” American Economic Review, 112(3): 899-927.
Reading Guide: Reshaping Adolescents’ Gender Attitudes
Reading Response: Behavioral Economics of Gender (due Friday 11/11)
10. Women in Economics
Wu, Alice. (2018) “Gendered Language on the Economics Job Market Rumors Forum,” AEA Papers and Proceedings, 108: 175-179.
Wu, Alice. (2020) “Gender Bias in Rumors Among Professionals: An Identity-Based Interpretation,” Review of Economics and Statistics, 102(5): 867-880.
Reading Response (due Friday 11/18)