Gender inequality and economic growth: A cross-country analysis

This paper investigates empirically the determinants of economic growth for a set of semi-industrialized export-oriented economies in which women provide the bulk of labor in the export sector. The primary hypothesis tested is that gender inequality which contributes to women's relatively lower wages was a stimulus to growth via the effect on exports during 1975-95. Empirical analysis shows that GDP growth is positively related to gender wage inequality in contrast to recent work which suggests that income inequality slows growth. Evidence also indicates that part of the impact of gender wage inequality on growth is transmitted through its positive effect on investment as a share of GDP. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.