Working Paper: NBER ID: w17672
Authors: Matthias Doepke; Michele Tertilt; Alessandra Voena
Abstract: Women's rights and economic development are highly correlated. Today, the discrepancy between the legal rights of women and men is much larger in developing compared to developed countries. Historically, even in countries that are now rich women had few rights before economic development took off. Is development the cause of expanding women's rights, or conversely, do women's rights facilitate development? We argue that there is truth to both hypotheses. The literature on the economic consequences of women's rights documents that more rights for women lead to more spending on health and children, which should benefit development. The political-economy literature on the evolution of women's rights finds that technological change increased the costs of patriarchy for men, and thus contributed to expanding women's rights. Combining these perspectives, we discuss the theory of Doepke and Tertilt (2009), where an increase in the return to human capital induces men to vote for women's rights, which in turn promotes growth in human capital and income per capita.
Keywords: Women's Rights; Economic Development; Gender Equality
JEL Codes: J10; N30; O10
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| increased rights (P14) | higher investments in health and education (I15) |
| increased rights (P14) | greater investment in physical and human capital (E22) |
| availability of property rights for women (P14) | decrease in fertility rates (J13) |
| political rights for women (J16) | influence government spending patterns (H50) |
| political rights for women (J16) | shift expenditures towards health and child welfare (I39) |
| technological change (O33) | increases returns to education (I26) |
| increases returns to education (I26) | motivates men to support women's rights (J16) |
| motivates men to support women's rights (J16) | fosters economic growth (O29) |
| women's rights (J16) | economic development (O29) |