Social Sciences: Overprotective of men’s feelings; problems with eviction bans; rethink shopping cart

Male fragility

Analyzing data on thousands of management line employees at retailers nationwide, the researchers found that women rated lower on future potential but higher on current performance, a phenomenon that explains up to half of the overall gender difference in promotions. Lower ratings of future potential are not explained when the actual future performance of these women is compared with men of the same rank. In addition, among those promoted, women perform better, but the gender gap in ranking potential is higher. So why is disparity in promotion counterproductive? Companies are more concerned about the prospect of those people quitting. Specifically, we showed that men were much more likely to leave the company when they passed a promotion, or when they received a lower potential rating, the researchers wrote. And because retailers accurately rate men as being at greater risk of loss, it appears that retailers reward at-risk workers with higher ratings, salaries, and potential promotions.

Benson, A. et al., Gender Promotion Potential and Gaps, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (October 2021).

Disadvantages of eviction ban

NS Economists find that policies that make it harder to evict tenants can increase market rents in such a way that it increases homelessness and makes everyone worse off. This is because tenants facing eviction usually experience prolonged financial difficulties that make eviction inevitable. So delaying evictions doesn’t really solve the problem, but increases costs for landlords, who adjust apartment prices and availability. A better approach is to subsidize rent, which reduces evictions and homelessness and can pay for the savings from dealing with the homeless.

Abramson, B., Welfare Effects of Eviction and Homelessness Policies, Stanford University (November 2021).

Parents are made, not born

Research shows that parenting is a contributor to inequality: Parents with high socioeconomic status generally invest more in stimulating the development of their children. To correct for disparities, the researchers conducted a randomized controlled experiment with parents of low socioeconomic status of 2-year-old children in the Chicago area. Twice a month for six months, parents are visited at home and trained on how to encourage children’s cognitive and socio-emotional development. These parents expressed increased belief that they could influence their children’s development; increased parent-child interaction; and children’s vocabulary, math, and socio-emotional skills improved.

List, J. et al., Shifting Parental Beliefs About Child Development to Encourage Parental Investment and Improve School Readiness Outcomes, Natural Communication (October 2021).

Cheap weapons on crack

While crack cocaine was blamed for much of the crime and dysfunction in US cities during the 1980s and ’90s, a new study argues that there’s another factor: a surge in the manufacture of cheap guns. All manufacturing industries, including firearms, experienced a major increase in the use of computer-controlled machine tools after the 1970s. This increases supply and lowers the price of manufactured goods, as exemplified by the super-cheap pistols made by a small group of manufacturers in Southern California known as the Ring of Fire company.

Bartley, A. & Williams, G., The Role of Arms Supply in Youth Violence in the 1980s and 1990s, Contemporary Economic Policy (forthcoming).

biceps for sale

In an experiment with people who came to the grocery store, those who were given a regular shopping cart with horizontal handlebars bought less than shoppers who were given a shopping cart with two parallel handles positioned low and on each side of the cart. The muscle measurements support the researchers’ hypothesis that this particular grip leads to greater use of the biceps than the triceps and increases buying because biceps are associated with carrying something, whereas triceps is associated with pushing something.

Estes, Z. & Streicher, M., Getting a Handle on Sales: The Shopping Cart Affects Purchases by Activating Arm Muscles, Journal of Marketing (forthcoming).