Banco de la República and the IDB present the book: Female Unemployment in Colombia
This book is the result of a joint research effort of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and Banco de la República. It analyzes some of the problems faced by women in the labor market, as well as the regional heterogeneity of this phenomenon. This is the first time that differences in unemployment between men and women in Colombia are systematically analyzed in order to understand their most important dimensions.
Besides reiterating the importance of the coverage and quality of education to explain gender gaps, the book offers insight on public policies in other less-explored issues, but critical to women’s job performance such as urban mobility, the characteristics of the neighborhoods, access to child care, job search mechanisms, and maternity leaves, among others.
The book’s research and edition processes were coordinated by Francesca Castellani, advisor to the Management for Andean Countries of the Inter-American Development Bank, and Luis Eduardo Arango, main researcher at Banco de la República. They were advised by Eduardo Lora, research associate at the Center for International Development in Harvard University.
To perform this study, the Deputy Technical Governor’s office at Banco de la República and the office of the Inter-American Development Bank in Bogotá promoted a call-for-papers for Colombian research centers and researchers from the Central Bank called "Female Structural Unemployment and Regional Heterogeneity of the Colombian labor market." The eight proposals selected form the body of the book, apart from the introduction by Eduardo Lora.
Its chapters are: "Sex Differences in Workers’ Flows between Labor Statuses and the Future of Labor for Colombian Women," by Hugo López and Francisco Lasso from Banco de la República; "Differences in Unemployment Rates by Gender," by Jaime Tenjo, Oriana Alvarez, and Maria Camila Jimenez from the Universidad de Bogotá Jorge Tadeo Lozano; "Regional Heterogeneity in Gender Differences for Unemployment Rates," by Juan Carlos Duque from Universidad EAFIT, Gustavo García from Universidad de Los Andes, Paula Herrera from the Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, and Enrique Lopez-Bazo from QR-IREA and the Universidad de Barcelona; "Duration of Unemployment in Colombia: Gender, Job Search Intensity, and Vacancy Announcements," by Luis Eduardo Arango and Ana Maria Rios from Banco de la República and the Departamento Nacional de Planeación, respectively; "Quality Neighborhoods and Female Labor Supply in an Urban Context: a case applied to the city of Medellín," and “Effects of Child Care Services on Labor: evidence of the Program Buen Comienzo," in charge of Lina Cardona Sosa and Leonardo Fabio Morales from the Central Bank of Colombia; "Access to Sources of Employment for Women in Bogotá," by Ana María Díaz from the Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, and "Safe Motherhood and the Labor Market: the Impact of Legislation,” by Natalia Ramirez from Universidad de Los Andes, and Ana Maria Tribín and Carmina Vargas from Banco de la República. The chapters stem from the works published in the Working Papers series of the IDB and the series Borradores de Economía by the Central Bank of Colombia.
The versions of the book in electronic formats (PDF and EPUB) may be downloaded free of charge at Desempleo femenino en Colombia - Publicaciones - Banco de la República - Colecciones digitales - Biblioteca Virtual del Banco de la República (banrepcultural.org)
