We obtain a model-driven measure of gender norms on intra-household financial decision making by leveraging dramatic variation across Italian cohorts and regions in the gender of the household head. We use these estimates to identify the effects of gender parity on household financial decisions. More egalitarian norms increase household participation in financial markets, equity holdings, asset diversification, and returns on investments. This evidence suggests that gender roles can have large economic costs. Consistent with this view, we show that patriarchal norms began receding in the early 1990s, when a pension reform made it too costly to comply with traditional roles.

我们通过利用意大利队列和地区在户主性别方面的巨大差异，获得了关于家庭内部财务决策的性别规范的模型驱动测量。我们使用这些估计来确定性别均等对家庭财务决策的影响。更平等的规范增加了家庭对金融市场的参与、股权持有、资产多元化和投资回报。这一证据表明，性别角色可能会产生巨大的经济成本。与这一观点一致，我们表明父权制规范在 1990 年代初期开始消退，当时养老金改革使得遵守传统角色的成本过高。