Nobel Prize Winner in Economic Science 2023: Prof. Claudia Goldin

Prof. Claudia Goldin from Harvard University has been named the recipient of the Nobel Prize in Economics ("the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel") in 2023. Prof. Goldin received the prize based on her contributions to "having advanced our understanding of women's labor market outcomes".

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Income Differences between Men and Women

In his career as a researcher, Prof. Goldin focuses on researching the income received by women and women's participation in the labor market. Her research reveals the causes of the gender gap in the form of differences in income between women and men, as well as various factors that influence it.

According to research by Prof. Goldin, women are significantly underrepresented in the global labor market and they tend to earn less than men. Prof. Goldin has searched archives and collected data for more than 200 years in the US, to show how and why gender gaps in earnings and employment levels have changed over time.

Prof. Goldin also shows that married women's participation in the workforce declined with the transition from an agrarian to an industrial society in the early 19th century. However, then participation rates began to increase along with the growth of the service sector at the beginning of the 20th century. Prof. Goldin explains this pattern as a result of structural changes and the development of social norms regarding women's responsibilities towards home and family.

Despite modernization, economic growth, and an increase in the proportion of women working in the 20th century, the income gap between women and men has barely closed. According to Prof. Goldin, one explanation is that educational decisions, which impact lifelong career opportunities, are made at a relatively young age. If young women's expectations are formed from the experiences of previous generations (i.e., for example, from their mothers, who did not return to work until their children were adults), then development will be slow.

Historically, much of the gender gap in earnings can be explained by differences in education and occupational choices. However, Prof. Goldin has shown that most of these earnings differences often occur between men and women in the same occupation, and most arise when women have their first child.