Maria Frech
I am a PhD candidate at Toulouse School of Economics, supervised by Christian Hellwig.
I am a quantitative macroeconomist with research interests in wealth inequality, household finance and entrepreneurship.
You can find my CV here.
Don't hesitate to reach out at maria.frech@tse-fr.eu
Working Papers
The Hidden Demand for Flexibility - A Theory of Gendered Employment Dynamics (with Gerard Maideu-Morera)
Abstract: Empirical evidence highlights women’s demand for flexible working hours as a critical cause of the persistent gender disparities in the labor market. We propose a theory of how hidden demand for flexibility drives gendered employment dynamics. We develop a dynamic contracting model between an employer and an employee whose time availability is stochastic and unverifiable. We model men and women only to differ in their probability of having low time availability, which we measure in the ATUS. We explore contracts designed specifically for each gender (gender-tailored) and the polar case where a male-tailored contract is given to both men and women. For the latter, we show that contracting frictions endogenously give rise to well-documented gendered labor market outcomes: (i) the divergence and non-convergence of gender earnings differentials over the life-cycle, and (ii) women’s shorter job duration and weaker labor force attachment.
Unicredit Award 2025 - best paper on gender economics
Is Knowledge Enough? Financial Literacy, Marriage, and Gender Differences in Wealth(with Marta Cota, Marta Morazzoni and Michael Tallent)
Abstract: This paper studies whether financial literacy shapes gender differences in wealth. Using data from the United States and the Netherlands, we document that women have lower financial literacy and confidence than men, are less likely to manage long-term investments within their households, and hold fewer financial assets, with the largest gaps among married agents. We build a life-cycle portfolio-choice model with endogenous financial literacy accumulation and marital dynamics centered around two wedges: a higher cost of literacy investment for married women and gender-specific perceived returns on risky assets. The calibrated model qualitatively matches untargeted life-cycle patterns in literacy and portfolio choice, accounting for a third of the gender gap in individual financial assets. Counterfactual exercises show that early-life financial education can narrow the gender knowledge gap, and portfolio-allocation rules may offset confidence and marriage-related wedges that education may not undo, lowering the wealth gap by 6\%.
Work in Progress
Dynamism versus Dynasties
Entrepreneurship and Self-employment: Consequences of Life-cycle Timing