Research Impact
Tracking how our work informs decision-makers and public discourse.
Credit: Photo by LSE/Maria Moore
The Hub's research has reshaped global debate on gender inequality in labour markets, led by evidence on child penalties and complemented by influential work on the Ask Gap, untapped talent, and job-search and time constraints.
Together, this work shows how expectations, information, time, and life events shape outcomes - and where policy can most effectively intervene.
Please read on about our impact or explore our Research dissemination timeline
Parenthood & Child Penalties
Parenthood reshapes economic outcomes in predictable and persistent ways - making child penalties one of the most important drivers of gender inequality globally.
Reach
Parenthood and child penalties represent the most widely cited and policy-referenced strand of this research programme, with the Child Penalty Atlas and related work by Camille Landais, Henrik Kleven, Gabriel Leite Mariante, and collaborators serving as a global reference point for gender and labour market policy.
Across events, publications, policy engagement, and media coverage, this area accounts for over 70% of documented impact activity, making it the dominant channel of dissemination for the Hub’s research.
The Child Penalty Atlas is now widely used in parliamentary briefings, international organisations, and global policy forums, and has become a standard empirical reference for understanding gender gaps in earnings and employment over the life course.
The work has received extensive coverage in leading international media, including The Economist and the Financial Times, alongside sustained global reporting on motherhood penalties and lifetime earnings gaps. It is also embedded in international policy analysis, including work by the OECD.
Why it matters
Child penalties are now recognised as a central mechanism driving gender inequality in lifetime earnings and careers, demonstrating how policy design around childcare, leave, taxation, and flexibility can materially shape long-term outcomes.
Selected Media & Policy Impact
Untapped Talent & Pay Inequality shape institutional agendas
Labour markets often fail to use the talent they already have - shaped by what workers believe they can earn elsewhere.
Reach
This research agenda - spanning work by Nina Rousille, Nava Ashraf, and Oriana Bandiera - has been widely cited across policy and media channels.
Key findings from the Quarterly Journal of Economics have been referenced by the Brookings Institution and Project Syndicate, and reported in the BBC and Business Insider. They also appear in the Economic Report of the President (USA)
The core insight - that workers often misperceive outside options and anchor on current pay - has also been incorporated into development and productivity debates, including work linked to the World Bank.
Why it matters
Inequality persists because information about opportunity is incomplete or misperceived, limiting mobility and efficient allocation of talent.
On average, women within the labour force are more talented than men. The difference is larger where the female labour participation is smaller
Selected Media & Policy Impact
The data reveals a startling gender gap, with women asking for salaries that are 6.8% lower than those of men.
The Ask Gap
A simple question at the point of negotiation can help explain persistent gender pay differences: what are people asking for?
Reach
Evidence on the “Ask Gap” is now a widely recognised explanation for gender pay inequality across academic, media, and policy audiences.
Work by Nina Rousille in the Quarterly Journal of Economics shows that differences in salary expectations can drive gender pay gaps, and that simple information interventions can close them.
The research has been disseminated through the London School of Economics and has been covered in international media including Bloomberg. It has also entered policy debate through reforms such as the EU Pay Transparency Directive and analysis by the OECD.
Why it matters
The Ask Gap shows that inequality is shaped not only by employers, but by expectations and information frictions, creating clear levers for policy intervention.
Selected Media & Policy Impact
Time, Job Search & Gendered Constraints
Employment outcomes are shaped not only by opportunity, but by how time and timing structure job search itself.
Reach
The paper “The illusion of time: gender gaps in job search and employment” by Oriana Bandiera, Amen Jalal, and Nina Rousille (NBER Working Paper No. 34051) is a core reference point in this emerging literature, hosted by the National Bureau of Economic Research.
The work is primarily disseminated through specialised and policy-facing channels, including VoxDev and Econimate, and is embedded in institutional discussion via the International Growth Centre and the World Bank.
Why it matters
Gender gaps in employment reflect time constraints, timing, and search frictions, highlighting a growing policy frontier as labour markets evolve.
Even when women have higher wages than their male partners before childbirth, their employment falls by at least 13% during the first years of parenthood and remains at this lower level for the next decade.
