Social reproduction, gender equality and economic growth

Elissa Braunstein, Rachid Bouhia and Stephanie Seguino

Cambridge Journal of Economics, 2020, vol. 44, issue 1, 129-156

Abstract: This paper presents a conceptual Kaleckian macroeconomic model and principal component analysis that link structures of economic growth and development with those of social reproduction and gender inequality. Employment, output and long-run prospects for growth are driven by class dynamics as well as social reproduction, defined as the time and money it takes to produce, maintain and invest in the labour force. How social reproduction is organised—the extent to which reproduction takes place in the household, public or market sectors, and the gender distribution of the labour in each—influences current aggregate demand and long-run productivity growth. Based on this model, and using data for a panel of 156 countries between 1991 and 2015, the paper presents empirical estimates of social reproduction regime by country and region, identifying under what circumstances systems of growth on the one hand and social reproduction on the other reinforce or contradict one another.

Keywords: Structuralist models; Care economy; Social reproduction; Gender inequality; Economic growth (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (18)

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