Parental Leave Quotas and Workplace Spillover

Parental Leave Quotas and Workplace Spillover | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Parental Leave Quotas and Workplace Spillover Malin Tallås Ahlzen This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-7939264/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Revision Version 1 posted 9 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract This paper studies how parental leave quotas may foster a more gender-equal division of parental responsibilities by increasing fathers’ uptake of leave beyond the reserved amount. Specifically, the paper examines whether the introduction and expansion of parental leave quotas in Sweden generated spillover effects on male coworkers’ leave-taking behavior. Using rich population register data and a regression discontinuity design, I find no evidence that the first quota introduced in 1995 affected male coworkers’ uptake of parental leave. In contrast, the 2002 expansion of the quota led to a statistically significant increase of almost nine additional days of parental leave taken by male coworkers. The increase primarily occurred early in the child’s life. As such, the increased uptake can be expected to contribute to a more equal division of parental responsibilities also in the long run. The absence of spillovers following the initial reform is consistent with the first quota being more distorting in nature and offering limited information about longer parental leave spells. These findings underscore the importance of societal context and policy design in shaping behavioral responses to parental leave reforms. JEL Classification: J13, J16, J18, Z13 Peer effects Parental leave Quotas Co-workers Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Revision Version 1 posted Editorial decision: Revision requested 02 Apr, 2026 Reviews received at journal 02 Apr, 2026 Reviews received at journal 06 Mar, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 26 Jan, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 18 Jan, 2026 Reviewers invited by journal 08 Jan, 2026 Editor assigned by journal 29 Oct, 2025 Submission checks completed at journal 29 Oct, 2025 First submitted to journal 24 Oct, 2025 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. 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