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Introducing the Historical Gender Equality Index

Author

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  • Selin Dilli
  • Sarah G. Carmichael
  • Auke Rijpma

Abstract

Despite recent progress, women are still disadvantaged by their greater domestic labor commitments and impaired access to well-paid jobs; and, in extreme cases, denied the right to live. This has consequences for the well-being of individuals and economic development. Although tools to evaluate country performance in gender equality, especially composite indicators, have been developed since the 1990s, a historical perspective is lacking. This study introduces a composite index of gender equality covering 129 countries from 1950 to 2003. This index measures gender equality in four dimensions (socioeconomic, health, household, and politics). The index shows substantial progress in gender equality, though there is little evidence that less gender-equal countries are catching up. Goldin's “quiet revolution” hypothesis is tested as an explanation for this observation, but fails to provide a good explanation. Rather, the long-term institutional and historical characteristics of countries are the main obstacles to convergence.

Suggested Citation

  • Selin Dilli & Sarah G. Carmichael & Auke Rijpma, 2019. "Introducing the Historical Gender Equality Index," Feminist Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 25(1), pages 31-57, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:femeco:v:25:y:2019:i:1:p:31-57
    DOI: 10.1080/13545701.2018.1442582
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    Cited by:

    1. Francisco J Beltrán Tapia & Francisco J Marco-Gracia, 2022. "Death, sex, and fertility: female infanticide in rural Spain, 1750–1950 [Son targeting fertility behaviour: some consequences and determinants]," European Review of Economic History, European Historical Economics Society, vol. 26(2), pages 234-254.
    2. Josilene Aires Moreira & Catarina Sales Oliveira, 2022. "Quantifying for Qualifying: A Framework for Assessing Gender Equality in Higher Education Institutions," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 11(10), pages 1-24, October.
    3. Niu, Geng & Wang, Qi & Li, Han & Zhou, Yang, 2020. "Number of brothers, risk sharing, and stock market participation," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 113(C).
    4. Jussi Heikkilä & Ina Laukkanen, 2022. "Gender-specific Call of Duty: A Note on the Neglect of Conscription in Gender Equality Indices," Defence and Peace Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 33(5), pages 603-615, July.
    5. Caitlin B. Schmid & Mark Elliot, 2023. "“Why Call It Equality?” Revisited: An Extended Critique of the EIGE Gender Equality Index," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 168(1), pages 389-408, August.
    6. Perrin, Faustine, 2022. "Can the historical gender gap index deepen our understanding of economic development?," Journal of Demographic Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 88(3), pages 379-417, September.
    7. Karlsson, Tobias & Kok, Joris & Perrin, Faustine, 2021. "The Historical Gender Gap Index: A Longitudinal and Spatial Assessment of Sweden, 1870-1990," Lund Papers in Economic History 217, Lund University, Department of Economic History.
    8. Romane Frecheville-Faucon & Magali Jaoul-Grammare & Faustine Perrin, 2023. "Gender Inequalities: Progress and Challenges," Working Papers of BETA 2023-32, Bureau d'Economie Théorique et Appliquée, UDS, Strasbourg.
    9. Song, Teresa, 2024. "Why did gender inequality lag GDP per capita and human development growth in Korea over 1976-1996?," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 122006, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    10. C. Cascella & J. Williams & M. Pampaka, 2022. "An Extended Regional Gender Gaps Index (eRGGI): Comparative Measurement of Gender Equality at Different Levels of Regionality," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 159(2), pages 757-800, January.
    11. Annarita Macchioni Giaquinto, 2022. "The power of the (red) pill in Europe: pharmaceutical innovation and female empowerment," Working Papers 2022:09, Department of Economics, University of Venice "Ca' Foscari".
    12. Khan, Haider, 2024. "Women’s Socially Embedded Capabilities and Development: A Theory-based Empirical Investigation," MPRA Paper 119908, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    13. Dilmaghani, Maryam, 2021. "The gender gap in competitive chess across countries: Commanding queens in command economies," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 49(2), pages 425-441.
    14. Xiao Tan & Leah Ruppanner & David Maume & Belinda Hewitt, 2021. "Do managers sleep well? The role of gender, gender empowerment and economic development," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 16(3), pages 1-18, March.
    15. Romane Frecheville-Faucon & Magali Jaoul-Grammare & Faustine Perrin, 2023. "Gender Inequalities: Progress and Challenges," Working Papers 12-23, Association Française de Cliométrie (AFC).
    16. Camelia Ilie & Abel Monfort & Gaston Fornes & Guillermo Cardoza, 2021. "Promoting Female Entrepreneurship: The Impact of Gender Gap Beliefs and Perceptions," SAGE Open, , vol. 11(2), pages 21582440211, May.
    17. Marcén, Miriam & Morales, Marina, 2019. "Gender division of household labor: How does culture operate?," GLO Discussion Paper Series 373, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    18. Kendall Oswald, 2023. "Gender Discrimination: An Overview Of Historical And Contemporary Issues," Post-Print hal-04109042, HAL.
    19. Youssouf Merouani & Faustine Perrin, 2022. "Gender and the long-run development process. A survey of the literature [Rethinking age heaping: A cautionary tale from nineteenth-century Italy]," European Review of Economic History, European Historical Economics Society, vol. 26(4), pages 612-641.

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