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.

中文翻译：

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失踪的男人

我们利用第一次世界大战法国军人死亡人数的空间变化，表明战争造成的男性稀缺导致女性劳动力参与率上升，这种变化在整个两次世界大战期间一直持续存在。现有数据表明，女性劳动力供应增加是造成这一结果的原因。特别是，单身女性的婚姻市场状况恶化，战争寡妇的收入受到负面冲击，导致许多女性在战后进入劳动力市场。相比之下，替代女性劳动力以弥补男性劳动力稀缺的需求因素则是次要的。