Women's Rights and Economic Development: A Theoretical Framework

National Bureau Of Economic Research Inc, Cambridge MA

Investigators

Abstract

Women's Rights and Economic Development: A Theoretical Framework SBE-SES 0820409 Doepke One of the key regularities of economic development is the gradual expansion of the economic and political rights of women. Historically, women had few political and economic rights in all countries. In Western countries such as the United Kingdom and the United States women's rights were first expanded in the mid-19th century. Today, women in most industrialized countries have acquired the same rights as men. In contrast, women's rights are still lacking in many developing countries. What explains the connection between economic development and women's rights? The project examines the link between development and women's rights from an economic perspective. In particular, the project takes a political-economy approach and identifies the political interests that drive expansions of women's rights. A key observation is that in the United Kingdom and the United States, many of the most significant reforms were introduced long before women obtained the right to vote. In other words, the reforms were passed by all-male legislatures that were responsible only to male voters, so that the initial expansion of women's rights amounted to a voluntary ceding of power on the part of men. This suggests that men came to regard improving the rights of women as being in their own interest. The project develops a political-economy model which can account for the endogenous expansion of women's rights in the course of development. The theory focuses on men's incentives for sharing power with women and suggests that changes in the economic environment led to a situation where both men and women stood to gain from an equalized distribution of rights. In particular, the theory demonstrates that an increase in the demand for human capital can trigger the expansion of women's rights. In turn, the expansion of women's rights further accelerates the accumulation of human capital. The link between economic development and women's rights therefore runs both ways. The underlying mechanism is that granting more power to women leads to increased investments in the education of children. As the demand for human capital increases and the return to skill goes up, men and women alike increasingly desire a high level of education for their descendants. Men therefore come to prefer to share power with women. The broader impact of the research derives from its implications for development policy. A number of studies have identified a lack of women's rights as an important hindrance for successful economic development. Given that it is generally infeasible to impose gender equality on a country from the outside, for successful development policy it is essential to identify conditions under which those in political control will find it advantageous to improve the legal position of women. The work on the political economy of women's rights carried out as part of the project can identify conditions that will facilitate and promote gender equality. For example, the theoretical framework suggests that public measures that are complementary to education within the family (such as public health programs for children and high-quality elementary schools in particular for girls) could increase the support for women's rights. The research also suggests that marriage-market institutions may play a key role in the political economy of women's rights.