远看虽好，近看不然：2016年伊朗女性劳动改革的影响

中文摘要

我们考察了2016年伊朗女性劳动改革的影响。伊朗是世界上性别平等状况最差的国家之一；该改革要求雇主在不削减薪酬的情况下，为符合条件的女性劳动者减少工作时间，以"确保弱势女性的社会保障"。利用具有全国代表性的季度家庭收入与支出调查数据，我们的分析表明，该改革使符合条件女性的工作时间出现小幅下降，但未能实现其既定目标。此外，该改革导致就业下降，尤其是在正规部门，目标母亲群体与非目标育龄女性均受到影响。目标家庭的支出也有所减少，特别是教育支出。这些发现表明，未能激励雇主的性别特定政策可能加剧劳动力市场扭曲与家庭福利差距。

Abstract

We investigate the impacts of the 2016 female labor reform in Iran – a country with one of the world’s poorest gender equity records – mandating employers to reduce working hours without pay cuts for eligible female workers to “ensure the social security of vulnerable women.” Using nationally representative quarterly household income and expenditure survey data, our analysis shows that the reform led to a modest reduction in the working hours of eligible women but fell short of its stated objectives. Moreover, the reform resulted in declines in employment, particularly in the formal sector, among both targeted mothers and non-targeted women of childbearing age. Targeted households also experienced reductions in expenditures, especially in education spending. These findings highlight that gender-specific policies failing to incentivize employers can exacerbate labor market distortions and household welfare disparities.