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American Economic Review Vol. 115 No. 9 2025

Drivers of Change: Employment Responses to the Lifting of the Saudi Female Driving Ban

Chaza Abou Daher1; Erica Field2; Kendal Swanson3; Kate Vyborny4

1 Alnahda Society (email: ) · 2 Duke University Department of Economics and NBER (email: ) · 3 Duke University Sanford School of Public Policy (email: ) · 4 World Bank South Asia Region Gender Innovation Lab (email: )

Abstract

We conduct a field experiment to quantify the impact of the lifting of the Saudi women's driving ban on women's employment by randomizing rationed spaces in driver's training. Treated women are 41 percent more likely to be employed yet are 19 percent less likely to be able to make purchases without family permission. Patterns of heterogeneous treatment effects reveal that these divergent impacts of access to driving are experienced by distinct subgroups of women. The results underscore the importance of intrahousehold responses that can counteract legal gains in women's freedoms.

DOI
10.1257/aer.20240119
Volume
115
Issue
9
Pages
3248-3271
Language
en
Sources
bibtex:phds-export.bib openalex crossref

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