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The gender gap in academic productivity during the pandemic: Is childcare responsible? Cover

The gender gap in academic productivity during the pandemic: Is childcare responsible?

By: Simone Chinetti  
Open Access
|Dec 2023

Figures & Tables

Figure 1

Lockdown dates.Source: My own calculation based on newspapers and official statements.
Lockdown dates.Source: My own calculation based on newspapers and official statements.

Figure 2

School re-openings dates.Source: My own calculation based on COVID-19 Impact on Education and Education Week.
School re-openings dates.Source: My own calculation based on COVID-19 Impact on Education and Education Week.

Figure 3

Number of working papers by month.
Number of working papers by month.

Figure 4

Distribution of authors by gender and country of affiliation.
Distribution of authors by gender and country of affiliation.

Figure 5

Distribution of authors by gender and position.
Distribution of authors by gender and position.

Figure 6

Distribution of authors by gender and tenure.
Distribution of authors by gender and tenure.

Figure 7

Aggregate number of papers by gender.Notes: Mean values (bars) and 95% confidence interval.
Aggregate number of papers by gender.Notes: Mean values (bars) and 95% confidence interval.

Figure 8

Average no. of authors by period, gender and tenure.
Average no. of authors by period, gender and tenure.

Figure 9

Tenure, lockdowns and school re-openings.Notes: Panel (a) reports the relative decrease/increase according to estimated coefficients, F*LD and F*SO, of Table A1 in terms of the sample averages for all female economists. Panel (b), replicates Panel (a), but focusing only on academics, according to the baseline estimates available in Table A2.
Tenure, lockdowns and school re-openings.Notes: Panel (a) reports the relative decrease/increase according to estimated coefficients, F*LD and F*SO, of Table A1 in terms of the sample averages for all female economists. Panel (b), replicates Panel (a), but focusing only on academics, according to the baseline estimates available in Table A2.

Figure B1

Number of working papers by month in 2019.
Number of working papers by month in 2019.

Figure B2

Distribution of authors by gender and country of affiliation in 2019.
Distribution of authors by gender and country of affiliation in 2019.

Figure B3

Distribution of authors by gender and position in 2019.
Distribution of authors by gender and position in 2019.

Figure B4

Distribution of authors by gender and tenure in 2019.
Distribution of authors by gender and tenure in 2019.

Figure B5

Aggregate number of papers by gender in 2019.Notes: Sample period goes from January to November 17, 2019. Lockdown and school reopening dates are brought forward by one year.
Aggregate number of papers by gender in 2019.Notes: Sample period goes from January to November 17, 2019. Lockdown and school reopening dates are brought forward by one year.

Figure B6

Average no. of authors by period, gender and tenure in 2019.Notes: Sample period goes from January to November 17, 2019. Lockdown and school re-opening dates are brought forward by one year.
Average no. of authors by period, gender and tenure in 2019.Notes: Sample period goes from January to November 17, 2019. Lockdown and school re-opening dates are brought forward by one year.

Falsification test: Eq_ (2) using 2019 data

(1)(2)(3)(4)(5)(6)(7)
BW:±60±90−90,+120−90,+150−90,+180−90,+210−90,+240
F−0.6724 (0.5010)−0.7632+ (0.4274)−0.7632+ (0.4062)−0.7632+ (0.4153)−0.7632+ (0.3993)−0.7632+ (0.4550)−0.7632+ (0.4431)
F*L−0.3276 (0.7181)−0.1192 (0.5882)−0.0243 (0.5250)0.0482 (0.5138)0.0634 (0.4799)0.1610 (0.5351)0.1596 (0.5119)
SO−3.4788** (1.1811)−3.7739*** (0.6379)−3.5323*** (0.4870)−2.6631*** (0.4112)−2.2311*** (0.3511)−1.5840*** (0.3541)−1.2626*** (0.3126)
F*SO−0.5181 (1.5267)−0.4138 (0.8897)0.2692 (0.7046)−0.1100 (0.6363)−0.0563 (0.5680)−0.3510 (0.6064)−0.2132 (0.5624)

Days FEyesyesyesyesyesyesyes

Obs.242373463564660764876
R20.75800.70540.69690.64620.63810.54930.5333

Falsification test: anticipated lockdown and school re-openings on gender production by tenure in 2019, only academics

(1)(2)(3)(4)(5)(6)(7)
BW:±60±90−90,+120−90,+150−90,+180−90,+210−90,+240

Tenured:

F−13.3462*** (1.5895)−11.4478*** (1.2359)−11.4478*** (1.1532)−11.4478*** (1.1068)−11.4478*** (1.0537)−11.4478*** (1.0755)−11.4478*** (1.0316)
F*L5.4890* (2.2821)3.0052+ (1.6925)3.5922* (1.4858)3.5556** (1.3661)4.0055** (1.2659)4.1753** (1.2670)4.2921*** (1.1939)
SO−8.0397* (3.4086)−9.2466*** (1.7245)−8.3408*** (1.2571)−6.7932*** (0.9994)−6.2408*** (0.8506)−5.1511*** (0.7772)−4.4447*** (0.6734)
F*S7.4202 (5.4120)7.2145** (2.7345)7.4827*** (2.2065)6.7210*** (1.8469)7.6111*** (1.5883)6.8548*** (1.5002)6.9297*** (1.3560)

Obs.215332410498579666766
R20.48050.48340.49040.47810.47900.44670.4438

Untenured:

F−2.6585*** (0.6077)−2.4038*** (0.4866)−2.4038*** (0.4610)−2.4038*** (0.4497)−2.4038*** (0.4309)−2.4038*** (0.4463)−2.4038*** (0.4364)
F*L0.7547 (0.8638)0.3228 (0.6624)0.2991 (0.5984)0.3932 (0.5565)0.4376 (0.5179)0.5843 (0.5233)0.6641 (0.5030)
SO−3.2011+ (1.6959)−2.8491*** (0.7488)−2.6068*** (0.5642)−2.3743*** (0.4503)−2.1180*** (0.3787)−1.5810*** (0.3493)−1.1985*** (0.3048)
F*SO0.1670 (2.5361)1.3259 (1.2324)1.5932+ (0.9251)1.5634* (0.7494)1.7143* (0.6631)1.5920* (0.6339)1.3287* (0.5758)

Obs.170259311384451528611
R20.64170.61880.61400.58600.57760.52440.5061

Days FEyesyesyesyesyesyesyes

Falsification tests

No. papersNo. authors

All economistOnly academics


TenuredUntenuredTenuredUntenured

(1)(2)(3)(4)(5)
F−0.9444 (0.6609)−12.2059*** (1.5067)−3.5926*** (0.6926)−11.0645*** (1.2912)−3.0000*** (0.6832)
F*PL0.0873 (0.9006)−1.1751 (2.0268)0.2176 (0.8964)−0.0934 (1.7399)0.3056 (0.8819)

Placebo days FEyesyesyesyesyes.

Obs.156152134138120
R20.39120.59680.46480.58860.3891

Quantity vs_ Quality

(1)(2)(3)(4)(5)(6)(7)
BW:±60±90−90,+120−90,+150−90,+180−90,+210−90,+240

No. of abstract views

F−20.3565* (10.3412)−16.8934* (8.2433)−16.8934 (11.7902)−16.8934 (11.8163)−16.8934 (34.0277)−16.8934 (32.4696)−16.8934 (31.2512)
F*L18.9826 (13.8169)13.4288 (10.8113)13.7892 (14.8635)11.8353 (14.3658)−3.4149 (40.6140)−4.8512 (38.2606)−4.8601 (36.5031)
SO13.3143 (30.1371)7.4306 (15.1074)−20.0042 (17.1660)−17.3695 (13.9815)−54.2111 (35.6794)−42.0975 (30.1949)−37.8504 (26.6631)
F*SO10.2765 (43.0945)11.0193 (21.9449)28.6878 (25.8868)13.4856 (21.6636)−1.7638 (56.5204)−8.5203 (49.1835)−1.3294 (44.4585)

Obs.1735248728833415380642164580
R20.03970.06510.05030.04100.01830.01820.0180

No. of downloads

F−17.7607** (6.0210)−14.3489** (4.4886)−14.3489*** (4.3221)−14.3489*** (4.0954)−14.3489* (5.7775)−14.3489** (5.5434)−14.3489** (5.3329)
F*L9.0604 (8.0467)7.7095 (5.8879)9.6104+ (5.4482)10.0929* (4.9795)9.4804 (6.8962)9.2851 (6.5327)9.3089 (6.2296)
SO−8.2468 (17.5984)−4.1042 (8.2437)−4.2123 (6.3024)−3.9210 (4.8551)−9.1922 (6.0669)−7.7112 (5.1636)−6.8707 (4.5557)
F*SO19.8543 (25.1618)12.7012 (11.9759)13.6724 (9.4922)11.8854 (7.5150)10.2290 (9.5999)9.3387 (8.3939)10.4645 (7.5866)

Obs.1,7442,4992,8993,4313,8244,2364,601
R20.02750.03910.03920.04060.02470.02490.0257

Days FEyesyesyesyesyesyesyes

Poisson model based on Eq_ (2)

(1)(2)(3)(4)(5)(6)(7)
BW:±60±90−90,+120−90,+150−90,+180−90,+210−90,+240
F−0.1350+ (0.0736)−0.1431* (0.0641)−0.1431* (0.0641)−0.1431* (0.0641)−0.1431* (0.0641)−0.1431* (0.0641)−0.1431* (0.0641)
F*L−0.1765+ (0.0991)−0.1472+ (0.0846)−0.1431+ (0.0813)−0.1226 (0.0783)−0.1096 (0.0768)−0.0788 (0.0758)−0.0860 (0.0752)
SO−1.5999*** (0.2173)−1.2932*** (0.1189)−1.1619*** (0.0937)−1.0714*** (0.0761)−0.9366*** (0.0670)−0.8039*** (0.0592)0.6778*** (0.0536)
F*SO−0.3168 (0.3164)−0.1035 (0.1767)−0.1452 (0.1449)−0.0363 (0.1204)0.0041 (0.1086)0.0586 (0.0986)0.0377 (0.0925)

Days FEyesyesyesyesyesyesyes

Obs.258412503609711817923

Pre-treatment period variation and extension

(1)(2)(3)(4)(5)(6)(7)
BW:±60±90±120±150±180±210±240
F*L−1.4231+ (0.8386) [−26%]−1.2313+ (0.6455) [−22.6%]−1.0972* (0.5474) [−18.6%]−1.0362* (0.4954)−0.4998 (0.4797)−0.3025 (0.4394)−0.2001 (0.4092)
F*SO−0.4641 (1.5756)0.1008 (0.8833)0.1589 (0.7065)0.2803 (0.6083)0.6307 (0.5770)0.7024 (0.5108)0.7405 (0.4640)

BW:−240, +60−240, +90−240, +120−240, +150−240, +180−240, +210±240
F*L−1.2922+ (0.6617) [−23%]−1.0114+ (0.5546) [−18%]−0.8779+ (0.5000) [−15.6%]−0.7129 (0.4703)−0.4976 (0.4393)−0.2194 (0.4230)−0.2001 (0.4092)
F*SO−0.3332 (1.4935)0.3207 (0.8396)0.3781 (0.6879)0.6036 (0.5995)0.6330 (0.5402)0.7855 (0.4962)0.7405 (0.4640)

BW:−210, +60−210, +90−210, +120−210, +150−210, +180±210−210, +240
F*L−1.3754* (0.6807) [−24%]−1.0945+ (0.5711) [−19.3%]−0.9611+ (0.5157) [−17%]−0.7960 (0.4867)−0.5807 (0.4554)−0.3025 (0.4394)−0.2832 (0.4257)
F*SO−0.4164 (1.5177)0.2375 (0.8546)0.2950 (0.7015)0.5204 (0.6139)0.5499 (0.5542)0.7024 (0.5108)0.6573 (0.4790)

BW:−180, +60−180, +90−180, +120−180, +150±180−180, +210−180, +240
F*L−1.2945+ (0.7174) [−22%]−1.0136+ (0.6004) [−17%]−0.8802 (0.5421)−0.7151 (0.5122)−0.4998 (0.4797)−0.2216 (0.4631)−0.2023 (0.4490)
F*S−0.3355 (1.5763)0.3184 (0.8865)0.3759 (0.7278)0.6013 (0.6383)0.6307 (0.5770)0.7832 (0.5331)0.7382 (0.5010)

BW:−150, +60−150, +90−150, +120±150−150, +180−150, +210−150, +240
F*L−1.6155* (0.6412) [−27%]−1.3347* (0.5552) [−22.9%]−1.2012* (0.5111) [−20%]−1.0362* (0.4954) [−20%]−0.8209+ (0.4697) [−17.8%]−0.5427 (0.4590)−0.5234 (0.4491)
F*SO−0.6565 (1.3819)−0.0026 (0.8057)0.0548 (0.6750)0.2803 (0.6083)0.3097 (0.5571)0.4622 (0.5222)0.4172 (0.4961)

BW:−120, +60−120, +90±120−120, +150−120, +180−120, +210−120, +240
F*L−1.5115* (0.6819) [−25.5%]−1.2306* (0.5924) [−20.8%]−1.0972* (0.5474) [−18.6%]−0.9321+ (0.5337) [−16.8%]−0.7168 (0.5076)−0.4386 (0.4974)−0.4193 (0.4878)
F*SO−0.5525 (1.4275)0.1014 (0.8388)0.1589 (0.7065)0.3843 (0.6422)0.4137 (0.5909)0.5662 (0.5573)0.5212 (0.5321)

Impact of lockdown and school re-openings on gender production by tenure

(1)(2)(3)(4)(5)(6)(7)
BW:±60±90−90,+120−90,+150−90,+180−90,+210−90,+240

Tenured:

F−13.4643*** (1.3518)−12.8553*** (1.1284)−12.8553*** (1.1403)−12.8553*** (1.1652)−12.8553*** (1.1403)−12.8553*** (1.1460)−12.8553*** (1.1547)
F*L−5.1392** (1.8951)−4.7010** (1.5492)−3.8589** (1.4769)−3.3123* (1.4433)−2.3072+ (1.3730)−1.4809 (1.3521)−0.6299 (1.3407)
SO−26.9446*** (2.4337)−18.9611*** (1.4470)−17.8135*** (1.2051)−15.9379*** (1.0429)−13.6780*** (0.9102)−11.5667*** (0.8215)−9.7381*** (0.7610)
F*SO8.2262* (3.9539)9.9220*** (2.2514)9.6618*** (1.9527)9.3303*** (1.7700)8.8231*** (1.6132)8.2283*** (1.5238)7.8812*** (1.4719)

Obs.248387472574668770869
R20.62380.60490.58750.56720.55040.51520.4814

Untenured:

F−3.5385*** (0.7257)−3.4627*** (0.6048)−3.4627*** (0.5853)−3.4627*** (0.5764)−3.4627*** (0.5633)−3.4627*** (0.5636)−3.4627*** (0.5593)
F*L−3.1282** (1.0035)−2.5331** (0.8110)−2.3980** (0.7480)−2.0367** (0.7066)−1.5308* (0.6722)−1.1854+ (0.6607)−0.8951 (0.6463)
SO−11.2053*** (1.4573)−7.7262*** (0.8010)−6.9591*** (0.6236)−6.4456*** (0.5090)−5.4061*** (0.4447)−4.6897*** (0.4030)−3.9675*** (0.3660)
F*SO3.4633+ (1.8344)2.5661* (1.1204)2.2724* (0.9419)2.2065** (0.8385)2.0342** (0.7677)2.1325** (0.7320)2.1043** (0.6976)

Obs.239363440537627714808
R20.43020.43070.45290.46100.43530.39330.3674

Days FEyesyesyesyesyesyesyes

Impact of lockdown and school re-openings on gender production

(1)(2)(3)(4)(5)(6)(7)
BW:±60±90−90,+120−90,+150−90,+180−90,+210−90,+240
F−0.8929 (0.6017)−0.8974+ (0.4790)−0.8974+ (0.4712)−0.8974+ (0.4849)−0.8974+ (0.4785)−0.8974+ (0.4811)−0.8974+ (0.4812)
F*L−1.5478+ (0.8400)−1.2624+ (0.6573)−1.1290+ (0.6119)−0.9639 (0.6029)−0.7486 (0.5767)−0.4704 (0.5680)−0.4511 (0.5591)
SO−9.2372*** (1.2475)−6.4873*** (0.6534)−5.8632*** (0.5297)−5.4167*** (0.4557)−4.4943*** (0.3956)−3.7537*** (0.3554)−3.1366*** (0.3266)
F*SO−0.5888 (1.5732)0.0696 (0.8914)0.1271 (0.7603)0.3525 (0.7026)0.3820 (0.6524)0.5345 (0.6218)0.4894 (0.5986)

Days FEyesyesyesyesyesyesyes

Obs.252402489595697803909
R20.44320.47690.47900.46010.43670.39420.3669

WP written by only female vs_ only male economists

(1)(2)(3)(4)(5)(6)(7)
BW:±60±90−90,+120−90,+150−90,+180−90,+210−90,+240
F−5.1667*** (0.9272)−4.7674*** (0.6873)−4.7674*** (0.6651)−4.7674*** (0.6849)−4.7674*** (0.6827)−4.7674*** (0.6728)−4.7674*** (0.6810)
F*L−3.3477* (1.2742)−3.0027** (0.9184)−2.6595** (0.8526)−2.4394** (0.8436)−1.8565* (0.8165)−1.3938+ (0.7924)−1.0132 (0.7953)
SO−8.5540*** (1.4818)−6.3696*** (0.7204)−5.8399*** (0.5749)−5.4741*** (0.4934)−4.6033*** (0.4316)−3.8148*** (0.3793)−3.2368*** (0.3529)
F*SO1.1893 (2.6189)3.0321* (1.2929)3.0088** (1.1380)2.5761* (1.1045)2.4934* (1.0422)2.6909** (0.9439)2.6319** (0.9061)

Days FEyesyesyesyesyesyesyes

Obs.144254307376445519585
R20.49150.50080.50220.47330.43070.38650.3392

Economics working papers summary statistics

MeanSDmin.Max.Obs.
All observations:
Tot. authors2.5961.1951164,235
No. of downloads38.209129.0704,6594,235
No. of views334.953467.6836114,0474,203
No. of pages47.51321.33813164,201
Female author0.4480.497014,235
Tot. no. of female0.6290.851084,235
Intensity female0.2310.306014,235
At least one female author:
Tot. authors3.0111.2941161,896
No. of downloads35.776135.18804,6591,896
No. of views319.142451.6486114,0471,882
No. of pages48.08721.16313161,881
Tot. no. of female1.4060.726181,896
Intensity female0.5170.2470.12511,896
Only male authors:
Tot. authors2.260.988172,339
No. of downloads40.18123.88303,1262,339
No. of views347.773480.007659,3762,321
No. of pages47.04821.47342122,320

Falsification test: anticipated lockdown and school re-openings on gender production by tenure in 2019

(1)(2)(3)(4)(5)(6)(7)
BW:±60±90−90,+120−90,+150−90,+180−90,+210−90,+240

Tenured:
F−14.0175*** (1.6681)−12.3699*** (1.2907)−12.3699*** (1.2006)−12.3699*** (1.1578)−12.3699*** (1.1010)−12.3699*** (1.1373)−12.3699*** (1.0874)
F*L4.1119+ (2.4032)2.0973 (1.7768)2.6486+ (1.5532)2.7334+ (1.4341)3.3494* (1.3244)3.5571** (1.3396)3.7506** (1.2586)
SO−10.5639** (3.7370)−11.2136*** (1.8481)−10.3680*** (1.3497)−8.6527*** (1.0746)−7.8347*** (0.9096)−6.6142*** (0.8435)−5.7173*** (0.7306)
F*SO7.5916 (5.9238)7.3415* (2.8655)8.6500*** (2.2115)7.5771*** (1.8513)8.4715*** (1.5946)7.4962*** (1.5348)7.4816*** (1.3940)

Obs.233356441537631729835
R20.51450.53270.54330.53020.52850.49330.4934

Untenured:

F−3.2041*** (0.5746)−2.8387*** (0.4799)−2.8387*** (0.4584)−2.8387*** (0.4527)−2.8387*** (0.4334)−2.8387*** (0.4853)−2.8387*** (0.4883)
F*L0.7651 (0.8203)0.2207 (0.6580)0.1989 (0.5954)0.3062 (0.5614)0.3771 (0.5222)0.5150 (0.5709)0.6741 (0.5638)
SO−3.0459+ (1.7360)−3.9664*** (0.7555)−3.2316*** (0.5771)−2.9651*** (0.4727)−2.6681*** (0.3832)−2.0800*** (0.3769)−1.4164*** (0.3402)
F*SO1.5144 (2.2084)1.6968 (1.1248)1.7082* (0.8629)1.7798* (0.7343)1.9606** (0.6422)1.8305** (0.6714)1.4707* (0.6354)

Obs.202303368450530619715
R20.70910.66850.65650.62600.61950.52410.4851
Days FEyesyesyesyesyesyesyes

Impact of lockdown on gender production

(1)(2)(3)(4)(5)(6)(7)(8)
BW:±30±60±90−90,+120−90,+150−90,+180−90,+210−90,+240
F−0.4643 (0.8674)−0.8929 (0.5711)−0.8974+ (0.4582)−0.8974* (0.4501)−0.8974+ (0.4715)−0.8974+ (0.4596)−0.8974+ (0.4570)−0.8974* (0.4466)
F*L−1.8690 (1.2060)−1.5478+ (0.7973)−1.3071* (0.6293)−1.1291+ (0.5851)−0.9476 (0.5868)−0.7634 (0.5546)−0.5282 (0.5407)−0.4971 (0.5204)

Days FEyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyes

Avg. Dep. Var. before5.79316.17545.77505.77505.77505.77505.77505.7750
Obs.116230332382440498546592
R20.23490.47190.49700.50820.47660.48620.48350.5034

Impact of lockdown and school re-openings on gender production by tenure, only academics

(1)(2)(3)(4)(5)(6)(7)
BW:±60±90−90,+120−90,+150−90,+180−90,+210−90,+240

Tenured:

F−11.0577*** (1.2349)−11.1159*** (1.0417)−11.1159*** (1.0418)−11.1159*** (1.0420)−11.1159*** (1.0327)−11.1159*** (1.0360)−11.1159*** (1.0336)
F*L−4.8370** (1.7077)−3.9748** (1.4059)−3.2610* (1.3348)−2.7236* (1.2768)−1.8506 (1.2313)−1.1733 (1.2129)−0.5515 (1.1933)
SO−21.9452*** (2.2113)−15.5738*** (1.3029)−14.8460*** (1.0740)−13.1898*** (0.9032)−11.2039*** (0.7956)−9.5284*** (0.7150)−8.2193*** (0.6579)
F*SO7.4712* (3.5829)8.4323*** (2.1524)8.5301*** (1.8386)8.0742*** (1.5936)7.6896*** (1.4634)7.1690*** (1.3842)6.7433*** (1.3259)

Obs.237364441543635730819
R20.59390.57350.56390.55070.52230.48640.4608
F−2.7872*** (0.6356)−2.8167*** (0.5170)−2.8167*** (0.5046)−2.8167*** (0.4965)−2.8167*** (0.4783)−2.8167*** (0.4775)−2.8167*** (0.4721)
F*L−2.3914** (0.8722)−1.8232** (0.6837)−1.6260* (0.6384)−1.2837* (0.6027)−0.9420+ (0.5660)−0.6592 (0.5561)−0.4086 (0.5436)
SO−8.3581*** (1.2751)−5.8054*** (0.6990)−4.8132*** (0.5488)−4.5461*** (0.4382)−3.8981*** (0.3766)−3.3293*** (0.3404)−2.8135*** (0.3073)
F*SO3.0761+ (1.7055)2.3025* (0.9790)1.8481* (0.8353)1.7402* (0.7392)1.6482* (0.6640)1.7420** (0.6301)1.7088** (0.5966)

Obs.219334401493575652734
R20.37860.41080.40840.41120.40060.35900.3388

Days FEyesyesyesyesyesyesyes
Language: English
Submitted on: Feb 13, 2023
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Published on: Dec 31, 2023
Published by: Sciendo
In partnership with: Paradigm Publishing Services
Publication frequency: 1 issue per year

© 2023 Simone Chinetti, published by Sciendo
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.