This report examines the level and changes in female and male participation rates, employment segregation, and female wages relative to male wages across the world economy. It funds sufficient evidence to support the view that labor markets in developing countries are transformed relatively quickly in the sense that gender differentials in employment and pay are narrowing much faster than they did in industrialized countries. However, the report evaluates the inefficiencies arising from persisting gender differentials in the labor market and finds them to be potentially significant. The estimates also indicate that the resulting deadweight losses are borne primarily by women while men gain mainly in relative terms-there are no real winners from discrimination. The paper concludes that growth benefits women at large, inequalities can have significantly adverse effects on welfare, and market-based development alone can be a weak instrument doe reducing inequality between the sexes. To break the vicious cycle of women's low initial human capital endowments and inferior labor market outcomes compared to men's, the report proposes greater access to education and training for girls and women, enforceable equal pay and equal employment opportunities legislation, a taxation and benefits structure that treats reproduction as an economic activity and women as equal partners within households, and a better accounting of women's work to include invisible production.
Details
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Author
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Document Date
1998/04/01
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Document Type
Working Paper (Numbered Series)
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Report Number
20051
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Volume No
1
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Total Volume(s)
1
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Disclosure Date
2014/09/04
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Disclosure Status
Disclosed
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Doc Name
Women and labor market changes in the global economy : growth helps, inequalities hurt, and public policy matters
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Keywords
Women workers; Women's employment; Wage differentiation; Gender gap; Gender discrimination; Gender inequality; Access to education; Employment opportunities; Equal pay for equal work; Discriminatory practices; Law & legislation; Tax reforms; Maternity benefits; Subcontracting; Sex discrimination against women; Sex discrimination in employment; Sex distribution; Female labor; Pension rights; Equal treatment; Women's role in household; Economic growth; Public policy
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Citation
Tzannatos,Panagiotis Zafiris
Women and labor market changes in the global economy : growth helps, inequalities hurt, and public policy matters (English). Social Protection Discussion Paper series ; no. SP 9808 Washington, D.C. : World Bank Group. http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/153301467986242902/Women-and-labor-market-changes-in-the-global-economy-growth-helps-inequalities-hurt-and-public-policy-matters