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The Impact of Gender Inequality in Education and Employment on Economic Growth in Developing Countries: Updates and Extensions

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Using cross-country and panel regressions, we investigate to what extent gender gaps in education and employment (proxied using gender gaps in labor force participation) reduce economic growth. Using most recent data and investigating a long time period (1960-2000), we update the results of previous studies on education gaps on growth and extend the analysis to employment gaps using panel data. We find that gender gaps in education and employment significantly reduce economic growth. The combined ‘costs’ of education and employment gaps in Middle East and North Africa and South Asia amount respectively to 0.9-1.7 and 0.1- 1.6 percentage point differences in growth compared to East Asia. Gender gaps in employment appear to have an increasing effect on economic growth differences between regions, with the Middle East and North Africa and South Asia suffering from slower growth in female employment.

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  • Stephan Klasen & Francesca Lamanna, 2008. "The Impact of Gender Inequality in Education and Employment on Economic Growth in Developing Countries: Updates and Extensions," Ibero America Institute for Econ. Research (IAI) Discussion Papers 175, Ibero-America Institute for Economic Research.
    • Handle: RePEc:got:iaidps:175
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    Cited by:

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    2. Juan Sebastian Munoz, 2014. "Re-estimating the Gender Gap in Colombian Academic Performance," Research Department Publications IDB-WP-469, Inter-American Development Bank, Research Department.
    3. Alkire, Sabina & Meinzen-Dick, Ruth Suseela & Peterman, Amber & Quisumbing, Agnes R. & Seymour, Greg & Vaz, Ana, 2012. "The Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture Index:," IFPRI discussion papers 1240, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    4. Thomas Schober & Rudolf Winter-Ebmer, 2009. "Gender Wage Inequality and Economic Growth: Is there Really a Puzzle?," Economics working papers 2009-08, Department of Economics, Johannes Kepler University Linz, Austria.
    5. Astrid Sneyers & Anneleen Vandeplas, 2013. "Girl Power in Agricultural Production: How Much Does it Yield? A Case-Study on the Dairy Sector in India," LICOS Discussion Papers 34113, LICOS - Centre for Institutions and Economic Performance, KU Leuven.
    6. Ceesay, Ebrima K., 2013. "Inequality and growth," MPRA Paper 45492, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    7. Chakraborty, Lekha S, 2021. "Fiscal Federalism, Expenditure Assignments and Gender Equality," MPRA Paper 111949, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    8. Alkire, Sabina & Meinzen-Dick, Ruth & Peterman, Amber & Quisumbing, Agnes & Seymour, Greg & Vaz, Ana, 2013. "The Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture Index," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 71-91.
    9. Miss Sonali Das & Ms. Sonali Jain-Chandra & Ms. Kalpana Kochhar & Naresh Kumar, 2015. "Women Workers in India: Why So Few Among So Many?," IMF Working Papers 2015/055, International Monetary Fund.
    10. Onyeke Queen Obiageli & Chukwuagoziem S. Agu & Okafor Samson Nonso & Eze Chikodili & Chukwuma Chisom Cynthia, 2022. "Underscoring the Relationship Between Education for Women and National Development in Nigeria," SAGE Open, , vol. 12(2), pages 21582440221, June.
    11. Meinzen-Dick, Ruth Suseela & Johnson, Nancy & Quisumbing, Agnes R. & Njuki, Jemimah & Behrman, Julia A. & Rubin, Deborah & Peterman, Amber & Waithanji, Elizabeth, 2011. "Gender, assets, and agricultural development programs: A conceptual framework:," CAPRi working papers 99, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    12. Juan Sebastian Munoz, 2014. "Re-estimating the Gender Gap in Colombian Academic Performance," Research Department Publications IDB-WP-469, Inter-American Development Bank, Research Department.
    13. IBOURK, Aomar & AMAGHOUSS, Jabrane, 2015. "Inequality In Education In The Mena Region: A Macroeconometric Investigation Using Normative Indicators," Applied Econometrics and International Development, Euro-American Association of Economic Development, vol. 15(2), pages 129-146.
    14. Leisa Perch, 2010. "Maximizing Co-Benefits: Exploring Opportunities to Strengthen Equality and Poverty Reduction through Adaptation to Climate Change," Working Papers 75, International Policy Centre for Inclusive Growth.
    15. Chakraborty, Lekha S & Singh, Yadawendra, 2018. "Fiscal Policy, as the “Employer of Last Resort”: Impact of Direct fiscal transfer (MGNREGA) on Labour Force Participation Rates in India," MPRA Paper 85225, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    16. Ghosh, Saibal & Vinod, D., 2017. "What Constrains Financial Inclusion for Women? Evidence from Indian Micro data," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 92(C), pages 60-81.
    17. Chandan Jain, 2019. "Analysing Changes in Gender Difference in Learning in Rural India over Time," Journal of Quantitative Economics, Springer;The Indian Econometric Society (TIES), vol. 17(4), pages 913-935, December.
    18. Dilara Kýlýnç & Ý. Hakan Yetkiner, 2013. "Does Gender Matter for Economic Convergence? The OECD Evidence," Working Papers 1302, Izmir University of Economics.
    19. Minhaj Ali & Shujahat H. Hashmi & Muhammad R. Nazir & Ahmer Bilal & Muhammad I. Nazir, 2021. "Does financial inclusion enhance economic growth? Empirical evidence from the IsDB member countries," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 26(4), pages 5235-5258, October.
    20. International Monetary Fund, 2015. "India: Selected Issues Paper," IMF Staff Country Reports 2015/062, International Monetary Fund.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    gender inequality; growth; education; employment; discrimination;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J7 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor Discrimination
    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
    • O4 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity

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