CAGE celebrates International Women's Day

Women belong in all places where decisions are being made. … It shouldn't be that women are the exception.

–Ruth Bader Ginsburg

Academic economics remains a male-dominated profession, particularly at the professorial level. But at CAGE we are lucky to host some of the brightest and best women economists, and to be supported by talented women higher-education professionals.

On International Women’s day, we’re celebrating some of the diverse work of these women, which sits at the cutting edge of economics, policy and history and contributes so much to making CAGE a success.

Below we have taken a snapshot of just some of the brilliant work that our women economists are working on right now. You can also take a look at the features on our website homepage and follow us on twitter to find out more about some of our women economists' fascinating research.

Sonia Bhalotra – domestic violence and unemployment

One in three women worldwide report having experienced domestic violence at some stage in their lives, and yet we do not have a clear understanding of the underlying causal mechanisms. Understanding causes is key to devising effective policy interventions.

Using administrative data from Brazil, Sonia Bhalotra, Diogo Britto, Paolo Pinotti and Breno Sampaio investigate the role of unemployment in domestic violence and whether unemployment benefits mitigate any impacts of job loss on domestic violence.

Policy Briefing (2021): Domestic violence: the potential role of job loss and unemployment benefits (CAGE Policy briefing no. 34)

Christine Braun – How working women have changed the US labour market

In the US between 1960 and 2000, the proportion of women wanting to work doubled. This had all kinds of positive impacts for women and wages, but there may be an unintended negative impact on the economy. Christine Braun explains why.

Video (2021): How working women have changed the US labour market

Lucie Gadenne – Demonetisation policy in India

Does the use of electronic payments technology affect tax compliance? Lucie Gadenne and her colleagues Satadru Das, Tushar Nandi and Ross Warwick find evidence that it does. India’s demonetisation policy, by limiting the availability of cash, led to a large increase in the use of electronic forms of payments. Using administrative data on firms’ tax returns and variation in the strength of the demonetisation shock across local areas, the researchers find that greater use of electronic payments leads to firms reporting more sales to the tax authorities. This effect is strong enough to explain roughly half of the large (11%) increase in reported sales observed during demonetisation.

Working paper (2022):Does going cashless make you tax-rich? Evidence from India's demonetisation experiment, CAGE Working paper (no.605)

Ludovica Gazze – The widespread societal costs of lead contamination

The effects of lead exposure are particularly harmful to children. Higher lead exposure levels have been linked to a lower ability to perform in schools and even a lower ability to control one’s impulses, leading to increased interpersonal conflict and even delinquency. But there is also a wider societal cost. Ludovica Gazze shows that lead poisoning not only affects the educational outcomes of those children who have been exposed, but also those of their classmates.

Advantage Magazine article (2021): Exposed: the widespread societal costs of lead contamination

Bishnupriya Gupta­ ­­– Understanding ­India’s economic development

As India is now completing 75 years of Independence, two big questions loom over the conversation around its economic development: How successful was the Indian economy before and during colonial rule, as compared to the postcolonial period? And what is the role of history in shaping India’s development trajectory?

Cage Research Director, Bishnupriya Gupta and CAGE Associate, Professor Lakshmi Iyer discuss in this fascinating podcast.

Podcast (2022): The role of history in shaping India's economic development

Marta Santamaria – Building infrastructure in a changing world

Managing UK infrastructure strategy in the wake of Brexit and the COVID-19 pandemic will be challenging. How can the government get it right? Marta Santamaria takes lessons from the division of Germany in 1945. Original transport infrastructure plans made in the 1930s covered the whole of Germany. In 1945, the West German government had to alter these plans and reallocate funds to create an infrastructure that would work within new geographical boundaries.

Video (2021): UK Transport infrastructure. How to get it right?