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Educational Gender Gaps and Economic Growth: A Systematic Review and Meta-Regression Analysis

Author

Listed:
  • Anna Minasyan
  • Juliane Zenker
  • Stephan Klasen
  • Sebastian Vollmer

Abstract

We conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis of the empirical literature on the impact of gender inequality in education on per capita economic growth, including cross-country, time series, and sub-national growth regressions. Studies using male and female education as separate covariates show a larger effect of female than male education on growth, except when an arguably problematic regression specification popularized by Barro and co-authors is used. We conduct a meta-regression analysis for studies that use the female-male ratio of education as explanatory variable. There we find evidence for a positive and statistically significant relationship between gender equality in education and growth based on 216 estimates from 17 such studies. We find that the average partial correlation coefficient between economic growth and the ratio of female over male education is 0.25, which is a moderate effect. The effect does not appear to be influenced by publication bias, it increases when one controls for initial education levels and social/institutional controls, while it falls with the use of fixed effects, the inclusion of economic controls, and the share of female authors.

Suggested Citation

  • Anna Minasyan & Juliane Zenker & Stephan Klasen & Sebastian Vollmer, 2018. "Educational Gender Gaps and Economic Growth: A Systematic Review and Meta-Regression Analysis," Courant Research Centre: Poverty, Equity and Growth - Discussion Papers 255, Courant Research Centre PEG.
    • Handle: RePEc:got:gotcrc:255
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    2. Aurelien K. Yeyouomo & Simplice A. Asongu, 2022. "Fintechs and the financial inclusion gender gap in Sub-Saharan African countries," Working Papers of The Association for Promoting Women in Research and Development in Africa (ASPROWORDA). 22/018, The Association for Promoting Women in Research and Development in Africa (ASPROWORDA).
    3. Gaelle Aymeric & Emmanuelle Lavaine & Brice Magdalou, 2025. "Parental environment and student achievement: Does a Matthew effect exist?," Papers 2510.18481, arXiv.org.
    4. Lehmann-Hasemeyer, Sibylle & Prettner, Klaus & Tscheuschner, Paul, 2023. "The scientific revolution and its implications for long-run economic development," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 168(C).
    5. Ana María Iregui-Bohórquez & María Teresa Ramírez-Giraldo & Ligia Alba Melo-Becerra & Jorge Leonardo Rodríguez-Arenas, 2025. "De la cobertura al desempeño: Explorando las brechas de género en el sistema educativo colombiano," Borradores de Economia 1301, Banco de la Republica de Colombia.
    6. Islam, Asif M. & Amin, Mohammad, 2023. "The gender labor productivity gap across informal firms," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 167(C).
    7. Porras-Arena, M. Sylvina & Martín-Román, Ángel L., 2023. "The heterogeneity of Okun's law: A metaregression analysis," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 128(C).
    8. Yongtian Zhu & Shigemitsu Shibasaki & Rui Guan & Jin Yu, 2023. "Poverty Alleviation Relocation, Fuelwood Consumption and Gender Differences in Human Capital Improvement," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(2), pages 1-17, January.
    9. Nordin, Martin & Stanfors, Maria, 2024. "The Reversal of the Gender Gap in Education: Exploring its Consequences for Partnering, Employment and Voting Behaviour," IZA Discussion Papers 17437, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    10. Paola Belingheri & Filippo Chiarello & Andrea Fronzetti Colladon & Paola Rovelli, 2021. "Twenty years of gender equality research: A scoping review based on a new semantic indicator," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 16(9), pages 1-27, September.
    11. Balasubramanian, Pooja & Ibanez, Marcela & Khan, Sarah & Sahoo, Soham, 2024. "Does women's economic empowerment promote human development in low- and middle-income countries? A meta-analysis," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 178(C).
    12. Tomomi Tanaka, 2019. "Human Capital Development in Ghana," World Bank Publications - Reports 34181, The World Bank Group.
    13. Humaira Kamal Pasha, 2024. "Gender Differences in Education: Are Girls Neglected in Pakistani Society?," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 15(1), pages 3466-3511, March.
    14. Rulia Akhtar & Muhammad Mehedi Masud & Nusrat Jafrin & Sharifah Muhairah Shahabudin, 2023. "Economic growth, gender inequality, openness of trade, and female labour force participation: a nonlinear ARDL approach," Economic Change and Restructuring, Springer, vol. 56(3), pages 1725-1752, June.
    15. Klasen, Stephan, 2020. "From ‘MeToo’ to Boko Haram: A survey of levels and trends of gender inequality in the world," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 128(C).
    16. Nguyen, Canh Phuc, 2021. "Gender equality and economic complexity," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 45(4).
    17. Sophia Kan & Simon Lange, 2021. "An appreciation of Professor Stephan Klasen and his contribution to development economics," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 25(1), pages 104-115, February.
    18. Dahlum, Sirianne & Knutsen, Carl Henrik & Mechkova, Valeriya, 2022. "Women’s political empowerment and economic growth," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 156(C).

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    Keywords

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    JEL classification:

    • O47 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity - - - Empirical Studies of Economic Growth; Aggregate Productivity; Cross-Country Output Convergence
    • I24 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Education and Inequality
    • I25 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Education and Economic Development

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