Essays on Gender Inequality and Migration

Abstract

This dissertation examines how social and institutional barriers impede the economic success of disadvantaged groups. The first two chapters focus on sources of gender inequality in educational choices and the labor market, while the third chapter investigates the determinants of migrants’ integration in destination countries. The first chapter utilizes administrative data from Italian schools and experiments to investigate whether girls are penalized in STEM fields when their teachers operate under higher cognitive burdens. It also explores how the selective retrieval of stereotype-consistent information acts as a mechanism, leading to more stereotype-consistent decisions. The second chapter examines the determinants of motherhood penalties in the labor market, particularly focusing on the role of childhood environment. The third chapter investigates the impact of reducing funding to primary reception centers hosting asylum seekers on their integration.