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Research ArticleArticle
Open Access

The Missing Men

World War I and Female Labor Force Participation*

Jörn Boehnke and Victor Gay
Published online before print June 10, 2020, 0419-10151R1; DOI: https://doi.org/10.3368/jhr.57.4.0419-10151R1
Jörn Boehnke
Jörn Boehnke is an assistant professor in the Graduate School of Management at the University of California, Davis, CA, and an associate research scholar in the Center of Mathematical Sciences and Applications at Harvard University, Cambridge, MA
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Victor Gay
Victor Gay is an assistant professor of economics at the Toulouse School of Economics and a research fellow at the Institute for Advanced Study in Toulouse, University of Toulouse Capitole, Toulouse, France
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Abstract

Using spatial variation in World War I military fatalities in France, we show that the scarcity of men due to the war generated an upward shift in female labor force participation that persisted throughout the interwar period. Available data suggest that increased female labor supply accounts for this result. In particular, deteriorated marriage market conditions for single women and negative income shocks to war widows induced many of these women to enter the labor force after the war. In contrast, demand factors such as substitution toward female labor to compensate for the scarcity of male labor were of second-order importance.

This open access article is distributed under the terms of the CC-BY- NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0) and is freely available online at: http://jhr.uwpress.org

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Journal of Human Resources: 60 (3)
Journal of Human Resources
Vol. 60, Issue 3
1 May 2025
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The Missing Men
Jörn Boehnke, Victor Gay
Journal of Human Resources Jun 2020, 0419-10151R1; DOI: 10.3368/jhr.57.4.0419-10151R1

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The Missing Men
Jörn Boehnke, Victor Gay
Journal of Human Resources Jun 2020, 0419-10151R1; DOI: 10.3368/jhr.57.4.0419-10151R1
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