Endogenous Gender Roles: Evidence from Africa’s Gold Mining Industry

Anja Tolonen

No 209, OxCarre Working Papers from Oxford Centre for the Analysis of Resource Rich Economies, University of Oxford

Abstract: Does industrial development change gender roles? This is the first paper to causally explore the effects of a continent-wide expansion of a modern industry on gender roles, captured by attitudes and behaviors. Identification relies on plausibly exogenous spatial-temporal variation in gold mining in Africa. The establishment of industrial-scale mines induces female empowerment—justification of domestic violence decreases by 19%, women have better access to healthcare, and are 31% more likely to work in services— alongside rapid economic growth. Findings are robust to assumptions about trends, distance, and migration and show that gender roles can change rapidly with economic development. Revised February 2019

Keywords: Gender Roles; Female Empowerment; Local Industrial Development; Gold Mining (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J16 O12 O13 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019-02-21
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-dev, nep-hea and nep-ure
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (10)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:oxf:oxcrwp:209

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