Samantha B. Rawlings

Intimate partner violence

In a recent paper, Sam Rawlings and her co-authors examine the association between male and female unemployment variation with intimate partner violence in a large sample of developing countries. They find male unemployment is associated with increased violence. In contrast, female unemployment rates have the opposite effect, a result that stands in stark opposition to existing work from developed countries which show improvements in women’s outside options (whether through wages or employment) lower their risk of violence. That an improvement in women’s employment opportunities is associated with increased violence is consistent with male backlash. They find that this pattern of behaviours emerges entirely from countries in which women have more limited access to divorce than men.

Sam Rawling’s research interests are in the area of applied microeconomics, with a focus on economics of the household. Broadly, her work has two strands: gender issues such as domestic violence and son preference, and the production of child health and human capital considering the role of maternal education and labor supply, as well as disease and pollution. She has published in international journals including the Review of Economics and Statistics, Journal of Public Economics, and Economic Development and Cultural Change. While at CESifo, Ms. Rawlings plans to explore work on violence against women with Sofia Amaral and Helmet Rainer.

Sam Rawlings is a Lecturer (Assistant Professor) in Economics and Director of Undergraduate Studies at the University of Reading. She received her PhD from the University of Bristol in 2011, under the supervision of Professor Sonia Bhalotra.