Menaka Hampole

Publications and Accepted Papers

1. 1.
   Peer Effects and the Gender Gap in Corporate Leadership: Evidence from MBA Students

   with Francesca Truffa and Ashley Wong

   Quarterly Journal of Economics (Accepted)

   Wharton-WRDS Best Empirical Finance Paper 2025 Carlo Dell'Aringa Young Economist Prize 2023 Outstanding Paper — Discrimination & Diversity Workshop 2022

   PDF SSRN Journal Abstract

   Women continue to be underrepresented in corporate leadership positions. This paper studies the role of social connections in women's career advancement. We investigate whether access to a larger share of female peers in business school affects the gender gap in senior managerial positions. Merging administrative data from a top-10 U.S. business school with public LinkedIn profiles, we first document that female MBAs are 24% less likely than male MBAs to enter senior management within 15 years of graduation. Next, we use the exogenous assignment of students into sections to show that a larger proportion of female MBA section peers increases the likelihood of entering senior management for women but not for men. This effect is driven by female-friendly firms, such as those with more generous maternity leave policies and greater work schedule flexibility. A larger proportion of female MBA peers induces women to transition to these firms where they attain senior management roles. A survey of female MBA alumnae reveals three key mechanisms: (i) information sharing, especially related to gender-specific advice, (ii) higher ambitions and self-confidence, and (iii) increasing support from male MBA peers. These findings highlight the role of social connections in reducing the gender gap in senior management positions.

Working Papers

1. 1.
   Artificial Intelligence and the Labor Market

   with Dimitris Papanikolaou, Lawrence Schmidt, and Bryan Seegmiller

   Revise and Resubmit, Quarterly Journal of Economics · NBER Working Paper No. 33509 (2025)

   NBER SSRN Abstract

   We use natural language processing to develop novel measures of workers' task-level exposure to AI and machine learning technologies from 2010 to 2023.
2. 2.
   Financial Frictions and Human Capital Investments

   HEC Top Finance Graduate Award 2023 FMA Napa/Sonoma Best Paper Award 2023 FRA Michael J. Barclay Young Scholar Award 2022 CEPR European Conference on Household Finance PhD Student Prize 2022 NBER Dissertation Fellowship on Consumer Financial Management 2022

   PDF Abstract

   Does the type of financing affect college students' choice of major? Between 2001 and 2021, 22 U.S. universities implemented universal no-loan policies (UNLPs), replacing student loans with grants. I find that UNLPs increased the number of students choosing a high-paying major by 6%. The effect is strongest for students from low-income backgrounds, and it is driven by increased selection of majors associated with low initial earnings but high lifetime earnings, suggesting that financial frictions play a key role in major choice. Additional evidence on mechanisms suggest that students choose more difficult majors and are more likely to attend graduate school.
3. 3.
   Intra-Household Decisions and Labor Market Outcomes: Evidence from Shared Parental Leave

   with Andrea Ferrara and Joao Monteiro

   PDF Abstract

   This paper examines the impact of intra-household decisions over the split of childcare duties on labor market outcomes. We study the introduction of shared parental leave in Portugal, which allows parents to decide on the allocation of leave days. Using a model of the household, we show that introducing shared parental leave leads to an increase in women's wages, as they are allocated a lower of childcare duties when compared with the allocation before shared parental leave is introduced. Moreover, this wage increase should be more pronounced for high-productivity women. Using a novel data set which combines household data with matched employer employee data, we find that the monthly wages of women increase by 1 percent relative to the wages of men. We also find that most of this increase is driven by women which are the primary earners in their household. Our results suggest that the effectiveness of childcare policies in mitigating gender inequality in the labor market may be determined by intra-household decisions.

Selected Works in Progress

1. 1.
   What Explains the Twin Gender Gaps in Higher Education? The Role of Outside Options

   with Titan Alon and Laura Murphy

   Upjohn Institute Early Career Research Award 2025
2. 2.
   The Impact of Recruiter Characteristics on the Characteristics of New Hires: Evidence from Campus Recruiting

   with Namgyoon Oh, Francesca Truffa, Ashley Wong, and Russell Weinstein
3. 3.
   Diversifying Innovation: How Student Debt Affects Diversity in Entrepreneurship

   with Ashley Wong and Francesca Truffa
4. 4.
   Student Loan Forgiveness of Physicians

   with Aidan Crowley, Abhinav Gupta, Atul Gupta, and Minseon Park

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