TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2023//
TI  - Men. Male-biased sex ratios and masculinity norms: evidence from Australia's colonial past
JO  - Journal of economic growth (Boston, Mass.)
A1  - Baranov, Victoria
A1  - De Haas, Ralph
A1  - Grosjean, Pauline
SP  - ePub
EP  - ePub
VL  - ePub
IS  - ePub
N2  - We document the historical roots and contemporary consequences of masculinity norms-beliefs about the proper conduct of men. We exploit a natural experiment in which convict transportation in the 18th and 19th centuries created a variegated spatial pattern of sex ratios across Australia. We show that in areas with heavily male-biased convict populations, relatively more men volunteered for World War I about a century later. Even at present these areas remain characterized by more violence, higher rates of male suicide and other forms of preventable male mortality, and more male-stereotypical occupational segregation. Moreover, in these historically male-biased areas, more Australians recently voted against same-sex marriage and boys-but not girls-are more likely to be bullied in school. We interpret these results as manifestations of masculinity norms that emerged due to intense local male-male competition. Once established, masculinity norms persisted over time through family socialization as well as peer socialization in schools.     SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10887-023-09223-x.<p />  <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 1381-4338
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10887-023-09223-x
ID  - ref1
ER  -