Abstract
We quantify the influences of Confucianism on gender inequality in present-day Vietnam. We use the number (or density) of the most successful test takers in the Vietnamese imperial examinations (1075–1919) in a given district as a proxy for mastering the subject of Confucianism. Using an instrumental variable approach based on the historical expansion of Vietnamese territory and distances to the test venues, we consider the effects on labor, health, and educational outcomes for females relative to males. We find that Confucianism has long-lasting negative impacts on gender inequality in all considered aspects. However, the results also suggest that when present-day females pursue more years of schooling, they tend to perform better than males.
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The datasets generated during and/or analyzed during the current study are not publicly available due to proprietary but are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
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Acknowledgements
We are grateful to Junichi Yamasaki and the participants of the 2021 Annual Conference of the Royal Economic Society, the 2021 Spring Meetings of the Japanese Economic Association, the 2021 Society of Economics of the Household, the 2022 Asian Meetings of the Econometric Society in China, and the Asian and Australasian Society of Labour Economics 2022 Conference in Japan for their comments and suggestions.
Funding
This work was supported by JSPS (Japan Society for the Promotion of Science) KAKENHI Grant Numbers 18K12784, 18K01580, 19H00619, 20H01506, 21K01455, and 22K18534 as well as project grants from the Asian Growth Research Institute, Chuo University, Kyushu University, and Keio Gijuku Academic Development Funds.
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Tien Manh Vu: Shaping the research ideas and methods; data processing and analyses; result interpretations; writing and improving the manuscript.
Hiroyuki Yamada: Shaping the research ideas and methods; result interpretations; improving the manuscript.
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Vu, T.M., Yamada, H. The impacts of Confucianism on gender inequality in Vietnam. J Econ Inequal 22, 165–184 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10888-023-09584-8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10888-023-09584-8