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Does gender inequality hinder development and economic growth ? evidence and policy implications

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  • Bandiera, Oriana
  • Natraj, Ashwini

Abstract

Does the existing evidence support policies that foster growth by reducing gender inequality? The authors argue that the evidence based on differences across countries is of limited use for policy design because it does not identify the causal link from inequality to growth. This, however does not imply that inequality-reducing policies are ineffective. In other words, the lack of evidence of a causal link is not in itself evidence that the causal link does not exist. Detailed micro studies that shed light on the mechanisms through which gender inequality affects development and growth are needed to inform the design of effective policies.

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Paper provided by The World Bank in its series Policy Research Working Paper Series with number 6369.

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Date of creation: 01 Feb 2013
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Handle: RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:6369
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Keywords: Gender and Development; Population Policies; Gender and Law; Gender and Health; Achieving Shared Growth;

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Blog mentions

As found by EconAcademics.org, the blog aggregator for Economics research:
  1. Quels liens entre inégalités de genre et croissance ?
    by ? in D'un champ l'autre on 2015-01-24 17:25:00
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Cited by:

  1. Boris Branisa & Carolina Cardona, 2015. "Social Institutions and Gender Inequality in Fragile States: Are they relevant for the Post-MDG Debate?," Development Research Working Paper Series 06/2015, Institute for Advanced Development Studies.
  2. Baliamoune–Lutz, Mina & McGillivray, Mark, 2015. "The impact of gender inequality in education on income in Africa and the Middle East," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 1-11.
  3. Ferrant, Gaëlle & Tuccio, Michele, 2015. "South–South Migration and Discrimination Against Women in Social Institutions: A Two-way Relationship," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 240-254.
  4. Wei-Bin ZHANG, 2014. "Gender Discrimination, Education and Economic Growth in a Generalized Uzawa-Lucas Two-Sector Model," Timisoara Journal of Economics and Business, West University of Timisoara, Romania, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, vol. 7(1), pages 1-34.

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