2023年经济学人 2023年经济学诺奖得主关于女性薪酬的研究(2)

 

    Between 1967 and 1979 the share of 20- and 21-year-old women who expected to be employed at 35 jumped from 35% to 80%.

    1967至1979年间，20至21岁的女性中，预期35岁就业的女性比例从35%跃升至80%。

    Expectations also matter for employers.

    心理预期对雇主来说也很重要。

    Although the pay gap narrowed in the early 1900s, the portion driven by discrimination, rather than job type, grew.

    尽管工资差距在20世纪初缩小了，但由歧视而不是工作类型造成的工资差距有所扩大。

    An important factor, says Ms Goldin, was changes in how payment was decided¹.

    戈尔丁表示，一个重要因素是什么决定了薪酬多少。

    Wages used to be tied to output—how many clothes were knitted, for instance.

    过去，工资与产量挂钩，例如织了多少件衣服。

    But after industrialisation, workers were increasingly paid periodically, in part because measuring an individual’s output became trickier².

    但在工业化之后，工人的工资发放周期日益变长，部分原因是衡量一个人的产出变得更加困难。

    Therefore more ambiguous factors grew in importance, such as ideas about how long a worker would stay on the job.

    因此，一些更模糊的因素变得越来越重要，比如工人会在岗位上工作多久。

    This penalised women, who were expected to quit when they had children.

    这对女性十分不利，人们预期女性有了孩子后就会辞职。

    Since around 2005 the wage gap has hardly budged³.

    自2005年左右以来，工资差距几乎没有变化。

    Here Ms Goldin’s work questions popular narratives⁴ that continue to blame wage discrimination.

    对于这个现象，戈尔丁的研究对那些继续将此归咎于工资歧视的流行说法提出了质疑。

    Instead, in a book published in 2021, Ms Goldin blames “greedy” jobs, such as being a consultant⁵ or lawyer, which offer increasing returns to long (and uncertain) hours.

    相反，在2021年出版的一本书中，戈尔丁将此归咎于“贪婪”工作，比如顾问或律师等，这些工作的工作时间越长（且越不稳定），报酬就越高。

    She explains how such work interacts with the so-called parenthood penalty.

    她解释了这种工作如何与所谓的“亲职惩罚”相互作用。

    “Let’s say there are two lawyers, equally brilliant,” explains Ms Goldin.

    戈尔丁解释说：“假设有两名律师，他们同样地精明强干。”

    Once children arrive, “they realise that they both can’t work these gruelling hours.”

    一旦有了孩子，“他们就意识到他们都无法再做这么繁重的工作”。

    Women spend more time raising children, which is why the gender⁶ pay gap tends to open up after a first child.

    女性在养育孩子上花的时间更多，这就是为什么在生了第一个孩子之后，性别收入差距往往会扩大。

    Both partners could take on less demanding jobs, but then the couple would earn less as a unit, she explains.

    她解释说，夫妻双方都可以从事更轻松的工作，但这样一来，夫妻俩的整体收入就会减少。

    Ms Goldin’s research holds lessons for economists⁷ and policymakers.

    戈尔丁的研究为经济学家和政策制定者提供了借鉴。

    For the former group, it shows the importance of history.

    对于经济学家来说，这表明了历史的重要性。

    Ms Goldin’s prize is the first economics Nobel awarded for work largely in economic history since Robert Fogel, her former adviser⁸, triumphed in 1993.

    戈尔丁是自她的导师罗伯特·福格尔于1993年获诺奖以来，第一位主要因经济史方面的工作而获诺贝尔经济学奖的人。

    Before Ms Goldin’s research, many academics considered questions about historical gender pay gaps to be unanswerable because of a paucity⁹ of data.

    在戈尔丁之前，许多学者认为，由于缺乏数据，有关历史性别薪酬差距的问题是无法回答的。

    Yet she has repeatedly demonstrated that digging through historical archives allows researchers to credibly¹⁰ answer big questions previously¹¹ thought beyond their reach.

    然而，戈尔丁一再证明，挖掘历史档案可以让研究人员对那些他们以为无法回答的重大问题提供可信的答案。

    For policymakers, Ms Goldin’s research demonstrates that fixes for gender inequality vary depending on time and place.

    对于政策制定者来说，戈尔丁的研究表明，性别不平等的解决办法因时因地而异。

    In early 20th-century America, companies barred married women from obtaining or retaining employment.

    在20世纪初的美国，公司禁止已婚女性获得或保留工作。

    A policy response came with the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which banned such behaviour.

    随着1964年的《民权法案》出台，这种行为被禁止。

    Today, wage gaps persist because of greedy jobs and parental¹² norms, rather than because of straightforward¹³ employer discrimination.

    如今，工资差距之所以持续存在，是因为贪婪的工作和亲职规范，而不是因为直接的雇主歧视。

    In the past, Ms Goldin has suggested more flexibility¹⁴ in the workplace could be a solution to the problem.

    戈尔丁过去曾表示，更多的工作灵活性可能是解决这个问题的办法。

    Perhaps working out how to achieve it will be her next act.

    或许，研究如何实现这一目标将是她的下一步行动。

1 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

2 trickier   

adj.狡猾的( tricky的比较级 )；（形势、工作等）复杂的；机警的；微妙的

参考例句：

• This is the general rule, but some cases are trickier than others. 以上是一般规则，但某些案例会比别的案例更为棘手。 来自互联网
• The lower the numbers go, the trickier the problems get. 武器的数量越低，问题就越复杂。 来自互联网

3 budged   

v.（使）稍微移动( budge的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）改变主意，（使）让步

参考例句：

• Old Bosc had never budged an inch--he was totally indifferent. 老包斯克一直连动也没有动，他全然无所谓。 来自辞典例句
• Nobody budged you an inch. 别人一丁点儿都算计不了你。 来自辞典例句

4 narratives   

记叙文( narrative的名词复数 )； 故事； 叙述； 叙述部分

参考例句：

• Marriage, which has been the bourne of so many narratives, is still a great beginning. 结婚一向是许多小说的终点，然而也是一个伟大的开始。
• This is one of the narratives that children are fond of. 这是孩子们喜欢的故事之一。

5 consultant   

n.顾问；会诊医师，专科医生

参考例句：

• He is a consultant on law affairs to the mayor.他是市长的一个法律顾问。
• Originally,Gar had agreed to come up as a consultant.原来，加尔只答应来充当我们的顾问。

6 gender   

n.（生理上的）性，（名词、代词等的）性

参考例句：

• French differs from English in having gender for all nouns.法语不同于英语，所有的名词都有性。
• Women are sometimes denied opportunities solely because of their gender.妇女有时仅仅因为性别而无法获得种种机会。

7 economists   

n.经济学家，经济专家( economist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The sudden rise in share prices has confounded economists. 股价的突然上涨使经济学家大惑不解。
• Foreign bankers and economists cautiously welcomed the minister's initiative. 外国银行家和经济学家对部长的倡议反应谨慎。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 adviser   

n.劝告者，顾问

参考例句：

• They employed me as an adviser.他们聘请我当顾问。
• Our department has engaged a foreign teacher as phonetic adviser.我们系已经聘请了一位外籍老师作为语音顾问。

9 paucity   

n.小量，缺乏

参考例句：

• The paucity of fruit was caused by the drought.水果缺乏是由于干旱造成的。
• The results are often unsatisfactory because of the paucity of cells.因细胞稀少，结果常令人不满意。

10 credibly   

ad.可信地；可靠地

参考例句：

• I am credibly informed that. 由可靠方面听说。
• An effective management software ensures network to run credibly. 一个高效的网管软件是网络运行的可靠保证。

11 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。

12 parental   

adj.父母的；父的；母的

参考例句：

• He encourages parental involvement in the running of school.他鼓励学生家长参与学校的管理。
• Children always revolt against parental disciplines.孩子们总是反抗父母的管束。

13 straightforward   

adj.正直的，坦率的；易懂的，简单的

参考例句：

• A straightforward talk is better than a flowery speech.巧言不如直说。
• I must insist on your giving me a straightforward answer.我一定要你给我一个直截了当的回答。

14 flexibility   

n.柔韧性，弹性，（光的）折射性，灵活性

参考例句：

• Her great strength lies in her flexibility.她的优势在于她灵活变通。
• The flexibility of a man's muscles will lessen as he becomes old.人老了肌肉的柔韧性将降低。