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A model of gendered production in colonial Africa and implications for development in the post-colonial period

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  • Fofack, Hippolyte
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    Abstract

    This paper proposes a model to analyze the implications of colonial policies for gender inequality in Sub-Saharan Africa. The model emphasizes segmentation of production under complete specialization. It shows that the colonial production model, underpinned by occupational job segregation in the agricultural sector and gender bias in the non-agricultural sector, exacerbated gender inequality by limiting employment opportunities for women outside the realm of home production and subsistence agriculture. Over the past few decades, the resilience of parameters underlying these models of colonial production has heightened the risks of macroeconomic volatility in the region, especially where the structural transformation from low to high-value-added activities has remained elusive.

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    Paper provided by The World Bank in its series Policy Research Working Paper Series with number 6438.

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    Date of creation: 01 May 2013
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    Handle: RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:6438
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    Keywords: Economic Theory&Research; Labor Policies; Rural Development Knowledge&Information Systems; Gender and Development; Population Policies;

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    1. Daron Acemoglu & Simon Johnson & James A. Robinson, 2001. "The Colonial Origins of Comparative Development: An Empirical Investigation," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 91(5), pages 1369-1401, December.
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    7. Agénor, Pierre-Richard & Canuto, Otaviano & da Silva, Luiz Pereira, 2014. "On gender and growth: The role of intergenerational health externalities and women's occupational constraints," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 30(C), pages 132-147.
    8. Galor, Oded & Weil, David N, 1996. "The Gender Gap, Fertility, and Growth," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 86(3), pages 374-87, June.
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    10. Warner, James M. & Campbell, D. A., 2000. "Supply Response in an Agrarian Economy with Non-Symmetric Gender Relations," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 28(7), pages 1327-1340, July.
    11. Mina Baliamoune-Lutz, 2007. "Gender Inequality and Growth in Sub-Saharan Africa and Arab Countries," ICER Working Papers 25-2007, ICER - International Centre for Economic Research.
    12. Anna Tibaijuka, 1994. "The Cost Of Differential Gender Roles In African Agriculture: A Case Study Of Smallholder Banana-Coffee Farms In The Kagera Region, Tanzania," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 45(1), pages 69-81.
    13. Darity, William Jr., 1995. "The formal structure of a gender-segregated low-income economy," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 23(11), pages 1963-1968, November.
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    15. Diane Elson, 1993. "Gender‐aware analysis and development economics," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 5(2), pages 237-247, 03.
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