Human Capital Investment and the Gender Division of Labor

Mark Pitt (), Mark Rosenzweig and Nazmul Hassan
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Mark Pitt: Brown University
Nazmul Hassan: Dhaka University

Working Papers from Economic Growth Center, Yale University

Abstract: We use a model of human capital investment and activity choice to explain facts describing gender differentials in the levels and returns to human capital investments. These include the higher return to and level of schooling, the small effect of healthiness on wages, and the large effect of healthiness on schooling for females relative to males. The model incorporates gender differences in the level and responsiveness of brawn to nutrition in a Roy-economy setting in which activities reward skill and brawn differentially. Empirical evidence from rural Bangladesh provides support for the model and the importance of the distribution of brawn.

Keywords: brawn; health; schooling; gender (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J1 J2 O1 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 55 pages
Date: 2010-09
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-dev, nep-edu, nep-hrm, nep-lab and nep-ltv
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (20)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:egc:wpaper:989

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