The effects of offshoring on the gender hours gap in the US

Abstract This paper examines the role of offshoring in the flattening of the ratio of female to male hours worked in the US since the early 1990s. The observed flattening coincides with a decline in the share of occupations with high offshoring potential in women’s hours worked and an increase in service offshoring. I propose a two-gender, two-sector model with a continuum of occupations. Given the higher female intensity in the service sector, the gender hours ratio declines as service offshoring increases. Quantitatively, the service offshoring plays an important role in explaining the plateau in the gender hours ratio since the 1990s.