Engendering Macroeconomic Theory and Policy
Over the last 20 years, macroeconomists have increasingly given attention to the role of gender in the macroeconomy and the implications of macro-level policies for gender equality. This paper reviews the salient findings of that literature. Resear...
| Main Author: | |
|---|---|
| Format: | Working Paper |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
World Bank, Washington, DC
2017
|
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/275461512048851974/Engendering-macroeconomic-theory-and-policy http://hdl.handle.net/10986/28951 |
| id |
okr-10986-28951 |
|---|---|
| recordtype |
oai_dc |
| spelling |
okr-10986-289512021-05-25T10:54:41Z Engendering Macroeconomic Theory and Policy Seguino, Stephanie MACROECONOMICS FINANCE GROWTH POLICY FUNDS GENDER GROWTH MODEL EQUALITY GLOBALIZATION FISCAL POLICY MONETARY POLICY TRADE LIBERALIZATION UNPAID LABOR Over the last 20 years, macroeconomists have increasingly given attention to the role of gender in the macroeconomy and the implications of macro-level policies for gender equality. This paper reviews the salient findings of that literature. Research shows that gender gaps in education, health, unpaid labor, employment, and wages affect the macroeconomy, influencing the rate of per capita GDP growth. The effects are transmitted via both the supply side of the economy, principally through labor productivity, and the demand side, through business spending, exports, saving, and the balance of payments. Theoretical perspectives influence which gender gaps are incorporated into models as well as how. For example, heterodox economists emphasize the demand and supply side in the short and long run, while neoclassical economists tend to focus on long-run supply-side effects. There is widespread agreement in the literature that greater gender equality in education and employment (proxied by labor force participation rates) stimulates long-run per capita growth. Improving women’s relative productivity through educational investments and facilitating their participation in paid labor serves several purposes. For example, assuming talent is equally distributed across men and women, a narrowing of gender gaps in education and employment contributes to higher average educational attainment and a more efficient allocation of labor. As educational attainment rises and women gain greater access to paid work, the opportunity cost of having additional children also rises, leading to a decline in fertility rates. Women’s bargaining power within the household rises at the same time. This increases their ability to allocate household spending in ways that benefit children, and as a result, economy-wide labor productivity growth. The weak link in this chain is that aggregate demand may be insufficient to absorb an increase in women’s relative labor supply. Demand-stimulating policies as well as other policy measures may be necessary to ensure women’s relative employment rate rises. Full employment policies can help to narrow the employment gap and well-targeted physical and social infrastructure investments have been found to promote women’s access to paid work. Finally, traditional monetary policy—that is, the use of interest rates to manage demand and by extension, inflation, has gender-related employment effects, and exchange rate policy also influences the gender wage gap. This area of policymaking has received much less attention than fiscal policy as a tool for promoting gender equality. The paper concludes with a discussion of areas for future research. 2017-12-05T20:09:59Z 2017-12-05T20:09:59Z 2017-11 Working Paper http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/275461512048851974/Engendering-macroeconomic-theory-and-policy http://hdl.handle.net/10986/28951 English CC BY 3.0 IGO http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo World Bank World Bank, Washington, DC Publications & Research Publications & Research :: Working Paper |
| repository_type |
Digital Repository |
| institution_category |
Foreign Institution |
| institution |
Digital Repositories |
| building |
World Bank Open Knowledge Repository |
| collection |
World Bank |
| language |
English |
| topic |
MACROECONOMICS FINANCE GROWTH POLICY FUNDS GENDER GROWTH MODEL EQUALITY GLOBALIZATION FISCAL POLICY MONETARY POLICY TRADE LIBERALIZATION UNPAID LABOR |
| spellingShingle |
MACROECONOMICS FINANCE GROWTH POLICY FUNDS GENDER GROWTH MODEL EQUALITY GLOBALIZATION FISCAL POLICY MONETARY POLICY TRADE LIBERALIZATION UNPAID LABOR Seguino, Stephanie Engendering Macroeconomic Theory and Policy |
| description |
Over the last 20 years, macroeconomists
have increasingly given attention to the role of gender in
the macroeconomy and the implications of macro-level
policies for gender equality. This paper reviews the salient
findings of that literature. Research shows that gender gaps
in education, health, unpaid labor, employment, and wages
affect the macroeconomy, influencing the rate of per capita
GDP growth. The effects are transmitted via both the supply
side of the economy, principally through labor productivity,
and the demand side, through business spending, exports,
saving, and the balance of payments. Theoretical
perspectives influence which gender gaps are incorporated
into models as well as how. For example, heterodox
economists emphasize the demand and supply side in the short
and long run, while neoclassical economists tend to focus on
long-run supply-side effects. There is widespread agreement
in the literature that greater gender equality in education
and employment (proxied by labor force participation rates)
stimulates long-run per capita growth. Improving women’s
relative productivity through educational investments and
facilitating their participation in paid labor serves
several purposes. For example, assuming talent is equally
distributed across men and women, a narrowing of gender gaps
in education and employment contributes to higher average
educational attainment and a more efficient allocation of
labor. As educational attainment rises and women gain
greater access to paid work, the opportunity cost of having
additional children also rises, leading to a decline in
fertility rates. Women’s bargaining power within the
household rises at the same time. This increases their
ability to allocate household spending in ways that benefit
children, and as a result, economy-wide labor productivity
growth. The weak link in this chain is that aggregate demand
may be insufficient to absorb an increase in women’s
relative labor supply. Demand-stimulating policies as well
as other policy measures may be necessary to ensure women’s
relative employment rate rises. Full employment policies can
help to narrow the employment gap and well-targeted physical
and social infrastructure investments have been found to
promote women’s access to paid work. Finally, traditional
monetary policy—that is, the use of interest rates to manage
demand and by extension, inflation, has gender-related
employment effects, and exchange rate policy also influences
the gender wage gap. This area of policymaking has received
much less attention than fiscal policy as a tool for
promoting gender equality. The paper concludes with a
discussion of areas for future research. |
| format |
Working Paper |
| author |
Seguino, Stephanie |
| author_facet |
Seguino, Stephanie |
| author_sort |
Seguino, Stephanie |
| title |
Engendering Macroeconomic Theory and Policy |
| title_short |
Engendering Macroeconomic Theory and Policy |
| title_full |
Engendering Macroeconomic Theory and Policy |
| title_fullStr |
Engendering Macroeconomic Theory and Policy |
| title_full_unstemmed |
Engendering Macroeconomic Theory and Policy |
| title_sort |
engendering macroeconomic theory and policy |
| publisher |
World Bank, Washington, DC |
| publishDate |
2017 |
| url |
http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/275461512048851974/Engendering-macroeconomic-theory-and-policy http://hdl.handle.net/10986/28951 |
| _version_ |
1764468144201531392 |