Publication: The disabling effects of enabling social policies on organisations’ human capital development practices for women
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Date
2022
Authors
Reichel, Astrid
Lazarova, Mila Borislavova
Apospori, Eleni
Afiouni, Fida
Andresen, Maike
Bosak, Janine
Parry, Emma
Bagdadli, Silvia
Briscoe, Jon P.
Gianecchini, Martina
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Volume Title
Publisher
Otto-Friedrich-Universität
Abstract
Paid parental leave and externally provided childcare are social policies designed to enhance parents' labour force participation. These policies influence not only men's and women's decisions regarding their labour market activity but also organisational decision makers' (ODMs) expectations about their employees' availability to work and thus, their willingness to invest in their employees' human capital. Using a sample of over 13,000 individuals from 19 countries, we investigate the interaction between gender and social policies on human capital development practices. In line with statistical discrimination theory, which suggests that ODMs hold different expectations about female and male productivity, we find that paid parental leave and externally provided childcare are negatively associated with the provision of human capital development for women but not for men.
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Keywords
childcare, contextual HRM, gender, human capital development, parental leave, statistical discrimination