Max-Emil Mohn King
Dept. of Economics, BI Norwegian Business School, 0442 Oslo, Norway
email: max-emil.m.king@bi.no, tel: (+47) 46488167
Research
Child Penalties in Politics with J. H. Fiva (revised and resubmitted to Economic Journal) 🔗
Abstract: Women tend to experience substantial declines in their labor income after their first child is born, while men do not. Do such "child penalties" also exist in the political arena? Using extensive administrative data from Norway and an event-study methodology, we find that women drop out of local politics to a larger extent than men after their first child is born. Parenthood also has a differential long-term effect on women and men's political careers, which may explain why women, especially women with children, are underrepresented at higher levels of the political hierarchy.
Bound by Borders: Voter Mobilization Through Social Networks with G. W. Cox & J. H. Fiva (revised and resubmitted to Review of Economics and Statistics)🔗
Abstract: Unlike previous studies of mobilization through social networks, we measure the drop-off in mobilizational impulses as they cross district boundaries. Our analysis exploit individual-level panel data on the geographical location of voters and candidates in Norway. Considering three types of social networks – families, co-workers and immigrant communities – we show that the a group member's candidacy sends a mobilizational impulse through the group's network. However, the impulse falls off dramatically as soon as the network crosses the candidate's district boundary. Our paper is the first we know that quantitatively assesses border effects, which have often been noted informally in the literature.