The economic effects of gender parity in education

This paper analyzes the effects of the gender parity index of females to males enrolled in primary, secondary and higher education on economic growth of real GDP per capita. Gender parity in primary and secondary education combined is also used as a variable. This is a novel variable used in such estimations. While high levels of development have high levels of gender parity in education, low levels of development can have equality or inequality in education between the genders. Low levels of gender parity indicate providing boys with more education than girls. Alternatively, female and male enrollment rates in each of these three levels of education are evaluated. Global panel-data regressions over a 50-year time span are used. These measures are all highly statistically significant throughout the regressions, generally at the 1-percent level. Impacts of gender parity in education on other economic variables are also found, such as reducing fertility rates, infant mortality rates, poverty, income inequality and inflation. Additionally, gender parity in education augments e.g. openness to trade, domestic investment, foreign direct investment inflows, R&D expenditures, savings, political rights, and government expenditures.