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Achieving Gender Equality: Development versus Historical Legacies

Author

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  • Selin Dilli
  • Auke Rijpma
  • Sarah G. Carmichael

Abstract

Economic development is often held to be beneficial for gender equality. However, there is good reason to believe that persistent institutions such as religion, legal traditions, and family practices, also matter. This article provides an empirical assessment of the relative importance of development and historical determinants of gender equality at the cross-national level. To capture this long-term relationship, a new index of gender equality that stretches back to 1950 is introduced. The determinants of this index are analysed using data on development and religious, legal, and family traditions. We find that variables measuring the long-lasting institutions of countries can be as important as economic development in determining gender equality outcomes. Thus, our study highlights the importance of considering the historical context of a country when analysing the determinants of gender equality gaps. (JEL codes: J160, N000, Z130, J120)

Suggested Citation

  • Selin Dilli & Auke Rijpma & Sarah G. Carmichael, 2015. "Achieving Gender Equality: Development versus Historical Legacies," CESifo Economic Studies, CESifo Group, vol. 61(1), pages 301-334.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:cesifo:v:61:y:2015:i:1:p:301-334.
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1093/cesifo/ifu027
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    Cited by:

    1. Haeyoung Jang & Seung-Ho Kwon, 2022. "Understanding women’s empowerment in post-Covid Korea: A historical analysis," The Economic and Labour Relations Review, , vol. 33(2), pages 351-376, June.
    2. Robert Ferritto, 2024. "Will policy help close the digital gender divide? An intersectional feminist policy analysis of Ethiopia's national digital policy," Development Policy Review, Overseas Development Institute, vol. 42(2), March.
    3. Maravall Buckwalter, Laura & Baten, Joerg, 2019. "Valkyries: Was gender equality high in the Scandinavian periphery since Viking times? Evidence from enamel hypoplasia and height ratios," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 34(C), pages 181-193.
    4. Francisco J. Beltrán Tapia & Domingo Gallego, 2015. "Where are the missing girls? Gender discrimination in mid-19th century Spain," Working Papers 23, Department of Economic and Social History at the University of Cambridge.
    5. Francisco J. Beltrán Tapia & Michail Raftakis, 2019. "‘All little girls, the bad luck!’ Sex ratios and gender discrimination in 19th-century Greece," Working Papers 0172, European Historical Economics Society (EHES).
    6. Auke Rijpma & Sarah Guilland Carmichael, 2015. "Testing Todd and Matching Murdock: Global Data on Historical Family Characteristics," Working Papers 0072, Utrecht University, Centre for Global Economic History.
    7. Graziella Bertocchi & Monica Bozzano, 2016. "Origins and implications of family structure across Italian provinces in historical perspective," Department of Economics 0095, University of Modena and Reggio E., Faculty of Economics "Marco Biagi".
    8. Francisco J. Beltrán Tapia & Gabriele Cappelli, 2024. "Missing girls in Liberal Italy, 1861–1921," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 77(1), pages 185-211, February.
    9. Graziella Bertocchi & Monica Bozzano, 2019. "Origins and Implications of Family Structure Across Italian Provinces in Historical Perspective," Studies in Economic History, in: Claude Diebolt & Auke Rijpma & Sarah Carmichael & Selin Dilli & Charlotte Störmer (ed.), Cliometrics of the Family, chapter 0, pages 121-147, Springer.
    10. C. Cascella & J. Williams & M. Pampaka, 2022. "An Extended Regional Gender Gaps Index (eRGGI): Comparative Measurement of Gender Equality at Different Levels of Regionality," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 159(2), pages 757-800, January.
    11. Mikołaj Szołtysek & Radosław Poniat & Siegfried Gruber & Sebastian Klüsener, 2016. "The Patriarchy Index: a new measure of gender and generational inequalities in the past," MPIDR Working Papers WP-2016-014, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany.
    12. Selin Dilli & Gerarda Westerhuis, 2018. "How institutions and gender differences in education shape entrepreneurial activity: a cross-national perspective," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 51(2), pages 371-392, August.
    13. Youssouf Merouani & Faustine Perrin, 2022. "Gender and the long-run development process. A survey of the literature [Rethinking age heaping: A cautionary tale from nineteenth-century Italy]," European Review of Economic History, European Historical Economics Society, vol. 26(4), pages 612-641.
    14. Ms. Janet Gale Stotsky & Sakina Shibuya & Ms. Lisa L Kolovich & Suhaib Kebhaj, 2016. "Trends in Gender Equality and Women’s Advancement," IMF Working Papers 2016/021, International Monetary Fund.

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