Free Access to the Lead Article “Assisted reproductive technology and women’s choice to pursue professional careers”

Advances in reproductive technology have had a significant impact on women’s labor force choices.

The Lead Article of the Journal of Population Economics  Issue 3 of the anniversary volume (now available online) examines the impact of assisted reproductive technology on women’s choice to pursue professional careers.

Enjoy 6-weeks free download of the lead article:

Assisted reproductive technology and women’s choice to pursue professional careers
by Sarah Kroeger and Giulia La Mattina, J Popul Econ (2017) 30(3): 723–769.

The authors hypothesize that the availability of assisted reproductive technology increases the expected benefits of a professional degree by allowing women to delay childbearing in their 20s and 30s while establishing their careers, thereby reaping greater financial benefit from human capital investment. State-level timing differences in the enactment of laws which mandated infertility treatment coverage in employer-sponsored health plans allow the authors to exploit state, year, and cohort variation in women’s ages at the time the laws are passed. These insurance mandates dramatically increase access to assisted reproductive technology. Using a triple difference strategy, the authors find that a mandate to cover assisted reproductive technology does increase the probability that a woman chooses to invest in a professional degree and to work in a professional career.