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The Economics of Women’s Rights

Author

Listed:
  • Michèle Tertilt
  • Matthias Doepke
  • Anne Hannusch
  • Laura Montenbruck

Abstract

Two centuries ago, in most countries around the world, women were unable to vote, had no say over their own children or property, and could not obtain a divorce. Women have gradually gained rights in many areas of life, and this legal expansion has been closely intertwined with economic development. We aim to understand the drivers behind these reforms. To this end, we distinguish between four types of women’s rights—economic, political, labor, and body—and document their evolution over the past 50 years across countries. We summarize the political-economy mechanisms that link economic development to changes in women’s rights and show empirically that these mechanisms account for a large share of the variation in women’s rights across countries and over time.

Suggested Citation

  • Michèle Tertilt & Matthias Doepke & Anne Hannusch & Laura Montenbruck, 2022. "The Economics of Women’s Rights," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 20(6), pages 2271-2316.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:jeurec:v:20:y:2022:i:6:p:2271-2316.
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1093/jeea/jvac059
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    Cited by:

    1. Mora-Sanguinetti, Juan S. & Atienza-Maeso, Andrés, 2024. "How effective is equality regulation in reducing gender gaps in the labor market?☆," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 46(5), pages 823-846.
    2. Han, Jiajun & Zhang, Yuan, 2025. "Education and tolerance towards Homosexuality—Evidence from China," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 87(C).

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • D13 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Household Production and Intrahouse Allocation
    • D72 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Political Processes: Rent-seeking, Lobbying, Elections, Legislatures, and Voting Behavior
    • E24 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Employment; Unemployment; Wages; Intergenerational Income Distribution; Aggregate Human Capital; Aggregate Labor Productivity
    • J12 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Marriage; Marital Dissolution; Family Structure
    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
    • N30 - Economic History - - Labor and Consumers, Demography, Education, Health, Welfare, Income, Wealth, Religion, and Philanthropy - - - General, International, or Comparative
    • N40 - Economic History - - Government, War, Law, International Relations, and Regulation - - - General, International, or Comparative
    • O10 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - General

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