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Is Foreign Direct Investment "Gender Blind"? Women's Rights as a Determinant of US FDI

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  • Robert G. Blanton
  • Shannon Lindsey Blanton

Abstract

The impact of women's rights on a country's competitiveness in the global economy is a source of contention. While educational opportunities for women, as well as political empowerment, are linked to a variety of positive outcomes, the impact of economic rights is mixed. Toward better understanding these issues, we focus on the role of women's rights in attracting foreign direct investment (FDI). Though foreign capital plays a key role in the development strategies of many countries, and many of the growth areas in FDI rely heavily on women's labor, extant literature on the determinants of FDI largely ignores gender. To gain insight into these issues, we examine the impact of women's political, economic, and educational rights across four different types of US FDI into the developing world. We find a mixed relationship between women's rights and FDI that varies across industrial sectors.

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  • Robert G. Blanton & Shannon Lindsey Blanton, 2015. "Is Foreign Direct Investment "Gender Blind"? Women's Rights as a Determinant of US FDI," Feminist Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 21(4), pages 61-88, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:femeco:v:21:y:2015:i:4:p:61-88
    DOI: 10.1080/13545701.2015.1006651
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    1. Dalibor Gottwald & Libor Švadlenka & Hana Pavlisová, 2016. "Human Capital and Growth of E-postal Services: A cross-country Analysis in Developing Countries," Post-Print hal-01307145, HAL.
    2. Thi Mai Hoai Bui & Xuan Vinh Vo & Duy Tung Bui, 2018. "Gender inequality and FDI: empirical evidence from developing Asia–Pacific countries," Eurasian Economic Review, Springer;Eurasia Business and Economics Society, vol. 8(3), pages 393-416, December.
    3. Mohammad Razib Hossain, 2021. "Inward foreign direct investment in Bangladesh: Do we need to rethink about some of the macro-level quantitative determinants?," SN Business & Economics, Springer, vol. 1(3), pages 1-23, March.
    4. Nassani, Abdelmohsen A. & Aldakhil, Abdullah Mohammed & Abro, Muhammad Moinuddin Qazi & Islam, Talat & Zaman, Khalid, 2019. "The impact of tourism and finance on women empowerment," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 41(2), pages 234-254.
    5. Robert G. Blanton & Bryan Early & Dursun Peksen, 2018. "Out of the shadows or into the dark? Economic openness, IMF programs, and the growth of shadow economies," The Review of International Organizations, Springer, vol. 13(2), pages 309-333, June.
    6. Juan A. Bogliaccini & Patrick J. W. Egan, 2017. "Foreign direct investment and inequality in developing countries: Does sector matter?," Economics and Politics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(3), pages 209-236, November.
    7. Farzan Yahya & Muhammad Rafiq, 2020. "Brownfield, greenfield, and renewable energy consumption: Moderating role of effective governance," Energy & Environment, , vol. 31(3), pages 405-423, May.

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