Health, Gender Division of Labor, and Productivity

This paper studies the impact of health on structural transformation and aggregate productivity in low-income economies through its effects on the gender-based division of labor across sectors. I develop a two-sector general equilibrium model in which returns to health are higher for men than for women in agriculture, implying that health improvements reallocate female labor toward nonagriculture. The model is calibrated to African economies. Quantitative results show that health improvements substantially reduce the agricultural employment share—particularly among women—and increase aggregate labor productivity. Over one-third of the productivity gains can be attributed to the gender-based division of labor. Policy experiments indicate that health subsidies are more effective than education subsidies in reducing women’s agricultural employment relative to men’s and in improving aggregate productivity and welfare. (Copyright: Elsevier)