1932
0
  1. Home
  2. A-Z Publications
  3. Annual Review of Economics
  4. Volume 4, 2012
  5. Article

Annual Review of Economics

Volume 4, 2012

The Economics and Politics of Women's Rights

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 with 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 the expansion of women's rights. Combining these perspectives, we discuss the theory of Doepke & Tertilt (2009), who find that 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.

Keyword(s): development, female suffrage, fertility, human capital, women's liberation
Loading

Article metrics loading...

/content/journals/10.1146/annurev-economics-061109-080201
2012-09-26
2025-05-20
Loading full text...

Full text loading...

/deliver/fulltext/arec/4/1/annurev-economics-061109-080201.html?itemId=/content/journals/10.1146/annurev-economics-061109-080201&mimeType=html&fmt=ahah

Literature Cited

  1. Abrams BA, Settle RF. 1999. Women's suffrage and the growth of the welfare state. Public Choice 100::289–300 [Google Scholar]
  2. Aidt TS, Dallal B. 2008. Female voting power: the contribution of women's suffrage to the growth of social spending in Western Europe (1869–1960). Public Choice 134::391–417 [Google Scholar]
  3. Akerlof GA, Yellen JL, Katz ML. 1996. An analysis of out-of-wedlock childbearing in the United States. Q. J. Econ. 111::277–317 [Google Scholar]
  4. Alesina A, Giuliano P. 2010. The power of the family. J. Econ. Growth 15::93–125 [Google Scholar]
  5. Alesina AF, Giuliano P, Nunn N. 2011a. Fertility and the plough. Am. Econ. Rev. 101::499–503 [Google Scholar]
  6. Alesina AF, Giuliano P, Nunn N. 2011b. On the origins of gender roles: women and the plough NBER Work. Pap. 17098 [Google Scholar]
  7. Allendorf K. 2007. Do women's land rights promote empowerment and child health in Nepal?. World Dev 35::1975–88 [Google Scholar]
  8. Anderson S, Ray D. 2010. Missing women: age and disease. Rev. Econ. Stud. 77::1262–300 [Google Scholar]
  9. Antecol H. 2000. An examination of cross-country differences in the gender gap in labor force participation rates. Labour Econ 7::409–26 [Google Scholar]
  10. Ashraf N, Field E, Lee J. 2010. Household bargaining and excess fertility: an experimental study in Zambia BREAD Work. Pap. 282 [Google Scholar]
  11. Bailey MJ. 2006. More power to the pill: the impact of contraceptive freedom on women's life cycle labor supply. Q. J. Econ. 121::289–320 [Google Scholar]
  12. Beaman L, Chattopadhyay R, Duflo E, Pande R, Topalova P. 2008. Powerful women: Does exposure reduce prejudice?. Q. J. Econ. 124::1497–540 [Google Scholar]
  13. Becker GS. 1991 (1981). A Treatise on the Family Cambridge, MA: Harvard Univ. Press [Google Scholar]
  14. Berman DR. 1987. Male support for woman suffrage: an analysis of voting patterns in the Mountain West. Soc. Sci. Hist. 11::281–94 [Google Scholar]
  15. Bertocchi G. 2011. The enfranchisement of women and the welfare state. Eur. Econ. Rev. 55::535–53 [Google Scholar]
  16. Besley T. 1995. Property rights and investment incentives: theory and evidence from Ghana. J. Polit. Econ. 103::903–37 [Google Scholar]
  17. Boserup E. 1997 (1970). Woman's Role in Economic Development London: Earthscan [Google Scholar]
  18. Bossen L, Xurui W, Brown MJ, Gates H. 2011. Feet and fabrication: footbinding and early twentieth-century rural women's labor in Shaanxi. Mod. China 37::347–83 [Google Scholar]
  19. Braun S, Kvasnicka M. 2010. Men, women, and the ballot: gender imbalances and suffrage extensions Kiel Work. Pap. 1625 Kiel, Ger: [Google Scholar]
  20. Chattopadhyay R, Duflo E. 2004. Women as policy makers: evidence from a randomized policy experiment in India. Econometrica 72::1409–43 [Google Scholar]
  21. Cheung SNS. 1972. The enforcement of property rights in children, and the marriage contract. Econ. J. 82::641–57 [Google Scholar]
  22. Chiappori PA, Fortin B, Lacroix G. 2002. Marriage market, divorce legislation, and household labor supply.. J. Polit. Econ. 110::37–72 [Google Scholar]
  23. Chiappori PA, Oreffice S. 2008. Birth control and female empowerment: an equilibrium analysis. J. Polit. Econ. 116::113–40 [Google Scholar]
  24. Chong A, Duryea S, La Ferrara E. 2008.Soap operas and fertility: evidence from Brazil CEPR Discuss. Pap. 6785 London:
  25. Clots-Figueras I. 2007. Are female leaders good for education? Evidence from India UC3M Work. Pap., Univ. Carlos III de Madrid: [Google Scholar]
  26. Clots-Figueras I. 2011. Women in politics: evidence from the Indian states. J. Public Econ. 95::664–90 [Google Scholar]
  27. Combs MB. 2005. A measure of legal independence: the 1870 Married Women's Property Act and the portfolio allocations of British wives. J. Econ. Hist. 65::1028–57 [Google Scholar]
  28. Conley D, Rauscher E. 2010. The effect of daughters on partisanship NBER Work. Pap. 15873 [Google Scholar]
  29. Das Gupta M, Zhenghua J, Bohua L, Zhenming X, Chung W, Hwa-Ok B. 2003. Why is son preference so persistent in East and South Asia? A cross-country study of China, India and the Republic of Korea. J. Dev. Stud. 40::153–87 [Google Scholar]
  30. Doepke M, Tertilt M. 2009. Women's liberation: What's in it for men?. Q. J. Econ. 124::1541–91 [Google Scholar]
  31. Doepke M, Tertilt M. 2011. Does female empowerment promote economic development? CEPR Discuss. Pap. 8441 London: [Google Scholar]
  32. Duflo E. 2005. Gender equality in development. BREAD Policy Pap. 011 [Google Scholar]
  33. Edlund L, Haider L, Pande R. 2005. Unmarried parenthood and redistributive politics. Eur. Econ. Assoc. 3::95–119 [Google Scholar]
  34. Edlund L, Lagerlöf N-P. 2006. Individual versus parental consent in marriage: implications for intra-household resource allocation and growth. Am. Econ. Rev. 96::304–7 [Google Scholar]
  35. Edlund L, Lee C. 2009.Son preference, sex selection and economic development: theory and evidence from South Korea Discuss. Pap. Columbia Univ: [Google Scholar]
  36. Edlund L, Pande R. 2002. Why have women become left-wing? The political gender gap and the decline in marriage. Q. J. Econ. 117::917–61 [Google Scholar]
  37. Eswaran M, Malhotra N. 2011. Domestic violence and women's autonomy: evidence from India. Can. J. Econ. 44::1222–63 [Google Scholar]
  38. Fernández R. 2007.Culture as learning: the evolution of female labour force participation over a century CEPR Discuss. Pap. DP6451 London: [Google Scholar]
  39. Fernández R. 2009. Women's rights and development NBER Work. Pap. 15355 [Google Scholar]
  40. Fernández R, Fogli A. 2009. Culture: an empirical investigation of beliefs, work and fertility. Am. Econ. J. Macroecon. 1::146–77 [Google Scholar]
  41. Fernández R, Fogli A, Olivetti C. 2004. Mothers and sons: preference formation and female labor force dynamics. Q. J. Econ. 119::1249–99 [Google Scholar]
  42. Ferreira F, Gyourko J. 2010. Does gender matter for political leadership? The case of US mayors Unpublished manuscript Wharton Sch.: Univ. Pennsylvania [Google Scholar]
  43. Field E. 2003. Fertility responses to urban land titling programs: the roles of ownership security and the distribution of household assets Unpublished manuscript Harvard Univ [Google Scholar]
  44. Fogli A, Veldkamp L. 2011. Nature or nurture? Learning and the geography of female labor force participation. Econometrica 79::1103–38 [Google Scholar]
  45. Fortman L, Antinori C, Nobane N. 1997. Fruits of their labor: gender, property rights, and tree planting in two Zimbabwe villages. Rural Sociol 62::295–314 [Google Scholar]
  46. Freed D, Walker T. 1990. Family law in the fifty states: an overview. Fam. Law Q. 23::495–608 [Google Scholar]
  47. Friedman W, Kremer M, Miguel E, Thornton R. 2011. Education as liberation? NBER Work. Pap. 16939 [Google Scholar]
  48. Funk P, Gathmann C. 2008. Gender gaps in policy making: evidence from direct democracy in Switzerland Unpublished manuscript: Univ. Mannheim [Google Scholar]
  49. Geddes R, Lueck D. 2002. The gains from self-ownership and the expansion of women's rights. Am. Econ. Rev. 92::1079–92 [Google Scholar]
  50. Geddes R, Lueck D, Tennyson S. 2009. Human capital accumulation and the expansion of women's economic rights Unpublished manuscript: Cornell Univ [Google Scholar]
  51. Givati Y, Troiano U. 2011. Law, economics and culture: theory and evidence from maternity leave laws Harvard Law Econ. Work. Pap., Harvard Univ.: [Google Scholar]
  52. Golden LJ. 1983. Equitable Distribution of Property New York: McGraw-Hill [Google Scholar]
  53. Goldin C. 1990. Understanding the Gender Gap: An Economic History of American Women New York: Oxford Univ. Press [Google Scholar]
  54. Goldin C, Katz L. 2002. The power of the pill: oral contraceptives and women's career and marriage decisions. J. Polit. Econ. 110::730–70 [Google Scholar]
  55. Goldstein M, Udry C. 2008. The profits of power: land rights and agricultural investment in Ghana. J. Polit. Econ. 116::981–1022 [Google Scholar]
  56. Gray JS. 1998. Divorce-law changes, household bargaining, and married women's labor supply.. Am. Econ. Rev. 88::628–42 [Google Scholar]
  57. Greenwood J, Guner N. 2009.Marriage and divorce since World War II: analyzing the role of technological progress on the formation of households NBER Macroeconomics Annual 2008 D Acemoglu, K Rogoff, M Woodford 23:231–76 Chicago: Univ. Chicago Press [Google Scholar]
  58. Greenwood J, Guner N. 2010. Social change: the sexual revolution. Int. Econ. Rev. 51::893–923 [Google Scholar]
  59. Griswold RL. 1986. Law, sex, cruelty, and divorce in Victorian America, 1840–1900. Am. Q. 38::721–45 [Google Scholar]
  60. Hamilton G. 1999. Property rights and transaction costs in marriage: evidence from prenuptial contracts. J. Econ. Hist. 59::68–103 [Google Scholar]
  61. Hecker EA. 1971. A Short History of Women's Rights Westport, CT: Greenwood [Google Scholar]
  62. Holcombe L. 1983. Wives and Property: Reform of the Married Women's Property Law in Nineteenth Century England Toronto: Univ. Toronto Press [Google Scholar]
  63. Huber J. 1976. Towards a sociotechnological theory of the women's movement. Soc. Probl. 23::371–88 [Google Scholar]
  64. Iyigun M, Walsh RP. 2007. Endogenous gender power, household labor supply and the demographic transition. J. Dev. Econ. 82::138–55 [Google Scholar]
  65. Joireman SF. 2008. The mystery of capital formation in sub-Saharan Africa: women, property rights and customary law. World Dev 36::1233–46 [Google Scholar]
  66. Jones EB. 1991. The economics of woman suffrage. J. Legal Stud. 20::423–37 [Google Scholar]
  67. Kertzer D, Barbagli M. 2001. Family Life in the Long Nineteenth Century 1789–1913 New Haven, CT: Yale Univ. Press [Google Scholar]
  68. Keyssar A. 2000. The Right to Vote: The Contested History of Demogracy in the United States New York: Basic [Google Scholar]
  69. Khan BZ. 1996. Married women's property laws and female commercial activity: evidence from United States patent records, 1790–1895. J. Econ. Hist. 56::356–88 [Google Scholar]
  70. Kristof ND, WuDunn S. 2009. Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide New York: Knopf [Google Scholar]
  71. Lang J. 1998. Enquete sur la Situation des Femmes dans le Monde Paris: Assem. Natl [Google Scholar]
  72. Leclerc-Madlala S. 2002. On the virgin cleansing myth: gendered bodies, AIDS and ethnomedicine. Afr. J. AIDS Res. 1::87–95 [Google Scholar]
  73. Lott JR, Kenny LW. 1999. Did women's suffrage change the size and scope of government?. J. Polit. Econ. 107::1163–98 [Google Scholar]
  74. Mason MA. 1994. From Father's Property to Children's Rights: The History of Child Custody in the United States New York: Columbia Univ. Press [Google Scholar]
  75. Miguel E. 2005. Poverty and witch killing. Rev. Econ. Stud. 72::1153–72 [Google Scholar]
  76. Miller G. 2008. Women's suffrage, political responsiveness, and child survival in American history. Q. J. Econ. 123::1287–327 [Google Scholar]
  77. Neelakantan U, Tertilt M. 2008. A note on marriage market clearing. Econ. Lett. 101::103–5 [Google Scholar]
  78. Oster E. 2004. Witchcraft, weather and economic growth in Renaissance Europe. J. Econ. Perspect. 18::215–28 [Google Scholar]
  79. Oster E, Jensen R. 2009. The power of TV: cable television and women's status in India. Q. J. Econ. 124::1057–94 [Google Scholar]
  80. Oswald AJ, Powdthavee N. 2010. Daughters and left-wing voting. Rev. Econ. Stat. 92::213–27 [Google Scholar]
  81. Pande R, Ford D. 2011.Gender quotas and female leadership: a review Backgr. Pap. World Dev. Rep. Gender World Bank Washington, DC: [Google Scholar]
  82. Pezzini S. 2005. The effect of women's rights on women's welfare: evidence from a natural experiment. Econ. J. 115::C208–27 [Google Scholar]
  83. Rehavi M. 2007. Sex and politics: Do female legislators affect state spending? Unpublished manuscript Univ. Michigan [Google Scholar]
  84. Roberts E. 2006. Women's rights and women's labor: married women's property laws and labor force participation, 1860–1900 Unpublished manuscript Victoria Univ. Wellington [Google Scholar]
  85. Salmon M. 1986. Women and the Law of Property in Early America Chapel Hill: Univ. North Carolina Press [Google Scholar]
  86. Sen A. 1990. More than 100 million women are missing. NY Rev. Books 37::61–66 [Google Scholar]
  87. Shanley ML. 1986. Suffrage, protective labor legislation, and married women's property laws in England. Signs 12::62–77 [Google Scholar]
  88. Sinha N, Raju D, Morrison A. 2007.Gender equality, poverty and economic growth World Bank Policy Res. Pap. 4349 World Bank Washington, DC: [Google Scholar]
  89. Stevenson B. 2008. Divorce law and women's labor supply. J. Empir. Legal Stud. 5::853–73 [Google Scholar]
  90. Stevenson B, Wolfers J. 2006. Bargaining in the shadow of the law: divorce laws and family distress. Q. J. Econ. 121::267–88 [Google Scholar]
  91. Stevenson B, Wolfers J. 2009. The paradox of declining female happiness. Am. Econ. J. Econ. Policy 1::190–225 [Google Scholar]
  92. Tertilt M. 2005. Polygyny, fertility, and savings. J. Polit. Econ. 113::1341–71 [Google Scholar]
  93. Tertilt M. 2006. Polygyny, women's rights, and development. J. Eur. Econ. Assoc. 4::523–30 [Google Scholar]
  94. Udry C. 1996. Gender, agricultural production, and the theory of the household. J. Polit. Econ. 104::1010–46 [Google Scholar]
  95. United Nations Dev. Fund Women 2003.Not a minute more: ending violence against women Rep. United Nations Dev. Fund Women New York: [Google Scholar]
  96. United Nations Dev. Prog 2004.Cultural liberty in today's diverse world Hum. Dev. Rep. 2004 United Nations Dev. Prog. New York: [Google Scholar]
  97. United Nations Dev. Prog 2005.International cooperation at a crossroads: aid, trade and security in an unequal world Hum. Dev. Rep. 2005 United Nations Dev. Prog. New York: [Google Scholar]
  98. Voena A. 2011.Yours, mine and ours: Do divorce laws affect the intertemporal behavior of married couples? SIEPR Discuss. Pap. 10-022 Stanford Univ [Google Scholar]
  99. Warner RL. 1991. Does the sex of your children matter? Support for feminism among women and men in the United States and Canada. J. Marriage Fam. 53::1051–56 [Google Scholar]
  100. Warner RL, Steel BS. 1999. Child rearing as a mechanism for social change: the relationship of child gender to parents' commitment to gender equity. Gend. Soc. 13::503–17 [Google Scholar]
  101. Washington EL. 2008. Female socialization: how daughters affect their legislator fathers' voting on women's issues. Am. Econ. Rev. 98::311–32 [Google Scholar]
  102. World Bank 2005. Word Development Indicators Washington, DC: World Bank [Google Scholar]
  103. World Bank 2012.2012 world development report on gender equality and development Tech. Rep. World Bank Washington, DC: [Google Scholar]
/content/journals/10.1146/annurev-economics-061109-080201
Loading
The Economics and Politics of Women's Rights
Annual Review of Economics 4, 339 (2012); https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-economics-061109-080201
/content/journals/10.1146/annurev-economics-061109-080201
/content/journals/10.1146/annurev-economics-061109-080201
Loading

Data & Media loading...

  • Article Type: Review Article

Most Cited Most Cited RSS feed

This is a required field
Please enter a valid email address
Approval was a Success
Invalid data
An Error Occurred
Approval was partially successful, following selected items could not be processed due to error