1. Does Gender Equality Contribute to Economic Growth?
There is a long established tradition of estimating growth models within the economics discipline. Early models took labor as a ‘given’ factor of production, exogenously determined by rates of population growth. There was very little coverage for exploring the human, leave alone the gender, dimensions of growth in these models (Walters, 1995). This changed with the rise of endogenous growth theory and the bigger reputation given to the accumulation of human capital in vibrant growth rates. As conclusions of this, a number of studies have included gender dissect versions of human capital, mostly substituted by gender differences in educational attainment, in their models. Interest in the impact of other aspects of gender inequality on growth is more scattered.
Empirical growth models typically rely on changes in per capita GDP as their measure of economic growth although a number rely on levels of per capita income. As Hall and Jones (1999: 114) indicate, the results from both are relevant since ‘many of the predictions of growth theory can be successfully considered in a cross section context by examining the levels of income across countries’. The independent variables of these studies include a number of those that have been established as significant in the growth literature: initial per capita GDP to account for a conditional convergence mechanism or the catch up effect (namely the hypothesis that poorer countries – starting from a lower starting level of per capita income – grow more rapidly than wealthier ones), fertility rates/population growth and life expectancy to capture labour supply and levels of health; investment rates; human capital; various measures of the ...
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...ence on economics growth through lowering the average quality of human capital. Moreover, economic growth is indirectly affected through the impact of gender inequality on investment and population growth. Gender inequality in education has a significant negative impact on economics growth and appears to be an important factor contributing to Africa’s and South Asia’s poor growth performance over the past 30 years. In addition to increasing growth, greater gender equality in education stimulates other important development goals such as lower fertility and lower child mortality.
Klasen (1999(‘s analysis show a strong association between gender inequality in both education level and growth, and economic growth, unaffected by controls for potential endogeneities, and possibly caused by distortion effects on the quality of human capital related to gender inequality.
The critical rank for reducing gender inequalities should be education, labor force participation, and lastly, wages. There are obvious differences between men and women whether it’s anatomically, financially, and so forth. The gender inequalities women face compared to men is alarming and saddening. Gender stereotypes reinforce gender inequalities because stereotypes can often be internalized which results in biases against either sex. These biases against a person can result in negative results. Gender inequality has been within our society for a long time especially amongst women.
The measure of growth is flawed, how countries see their growth is based on the consumption of their people. Many countries use the GDP (Gross Domestic Product) as an indicator for growth, as defined in It’s All Connected, “(GDP) is a calculation of the total monetary value of goods and services produced annually in a country” (Wheeler 11). The...
Robert E. Lucas Jr.’s journal article, “Some Macroeconomics for the 21st Century” in the Journal of Economic Perspectives, uses both his own and other economist’s models to track and predict economic industrialization and growth by per capita income. Using models of growth on a country wide basis, Lucas is able to track the rate at which nations become industrialized, and the growth rate of the average income once industrialization has taken place. In doing so, he has come to the conclusion that the average rate of growth among industrialized nations is around 2% for the last 30 years, but is higher the closer the nation is to the point in time that it first industrialized. This conclusion is supported by his models, and is a generally accepted idea. Lucas goes on to say that the farther we get from the industrial revolution the average growth rate is more likely to hit 1.5% as a greater percentage of countries become industrialized.
Across the world, even in the United States, a paragon of progress, women in general are valued less than men because of… something. The origins of this rumor come from a combination of misleading information, the human need for self improvement and a progressive movement based around spreading awareness more than facts. When you grow up in a political bubble like Madison, you tend to hear more echoes than arguments and so when I began to learn about feminism in my middle school history class, the basics that I could gather was that people deserved to be equal and women were paid less than men. For whatever reason I never really questioned it and just believed that “things should change” without really knowing what things would need to change.
...sterlin, Richard A. "Does Economic Growth Improve the Human Lot?". Nations and Households in Economic Growth:
...er inequality decreases as a countries gets richer or develops, suggesting that economic growth cold be leading to better gender outcomes.
Further data shows that in Woman’s lifetime, she will earn 77% of what a man will earn. However, there are controllable factors, such as job position, race, job industry and other factors, which affect the Gender Pay Gap. For instance, the US Department of Labor found that when such factors were considered, the gap ...
World Bank Policy Report. (2001). Engendering development: Through gender equality in rights, resources, and voice. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
Education and experience are considered “human capital” by economist. The knowledge and skills learned on the job make employees more productive. Historically women were less likely to go to college and graduate, however according to the U.S. Department of Education Institute of Education Sciences National Center for Education Statistics Between 1970 and 2001, women went from being the minority to the majority of the U.S. undergraduate population, increasing their representation from 42 percent to 56 percent of undergraduates. If these trends continue women will make up the larger segment of the skilled labor force. Educational attainment is particularly important in closing the wage gap. The simple fact is that employees with a college degree makes more than employees with a high school education. The gender wage gap exists at all levels of education, and women with graduate degrees experience the widest wage ratio of 73 percent, earning almost $450 less per week than
Mainstream development economists claim that investment in women may pay off eventually in the long run with high economic costs; such investments are not economically viable for a developing country with limited resources, but all evidence suggests quite the contrary. Women have an extraordinary power of being the enlightened agents of economic change; an economy that allows women to flourish and develop will henceforth emerge as a sustainable economy. Noting this relation public action and government intervention should facilitate the growth of these agents of change.
Today in the United States, men make more than women in various sectors, including education and other trades favoring women workers. The gap gets bigger when comparing the wages earned by men to those of women in jobs favoring men workers such as construction or other physically demanding jobs. Women are less likely to work those jobs, therefor; men have the advantage of having more experience and get paid better. In addition, employers would rather hire a man instead of a woman because they believe that a man will be able to sustain the difficulty of the job and work longer hours which crate a disadvantage for women because they are unable to gain experience and become skilled in that certain field. Gender pay gap based on this information is explained as the result of the discrimination of employers toward the feminine sex in terms of pay, which discourage them to work certain jobs leading to create a bigger gap due to the lack of
Åsa Löfström´s report analyses the connection between gender equality, economic growth and employment. If we want to find an answer on the first question (Whether female employment rate matters for GDP and GDP-growth), we should first...
and wages. It will also tackle what is being done to solve this problem and what
It is no denying that the salary of men is far more than that of women’s. In the Great Britain (and other parts of the globe), there are pieces of evidence which suggest that gendered practices of participation in the labor force still have significant impact on the economic security level that men and women develop over the course of their ...
Human development faces constraint of gender inequality. In present scenario still women and girls are biggest face of inequality. Women and girls are faces discrimination in health, education, political representation, labor market etc. that lead to adverse development. Empowerment of gender considered important for women to come out from difficult face of hindrance in education, work status, social security, position in decision making by ideal of gender. Women empowerment to participate in economic life is necessary to build stronger economically develop and sustainable world and to improve the quality of life for women, men, families and