Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/235319 
Year of Publication: 
2021
Series/Report no.: 
CESifo Working Paper No. 8949
Publisher: 
Center for Economic Studies and Ifo Institute (CESifo), Munich
Abstract: 
This paper adds to our understanding of the causes of income inequality across nations by examining the influence of different aspects of gender equality or female empowerment. Whereas the economics of income inequality has been an area of active academic inquiry, the role of gender equality has largely been ignored. Are there positive spillovers from gender equality onto income equality? The answer to this question, using data for nearly 150 nations over the years 1985-2019, is in the affirmative. Specifically, nations with a history of women’s suffrage, greater representation of women in the government, lower fertility rates, and better overall gender equality experienced lower income inequality, ceteris paribus. These results are largely supported in considerations of cross-section versus pooled data, simultaneity issues, and the measurement of income inequality. The spillovers from some dimensions of gender equality are found to be sensitive to the existing prevalence of income inequality. Policymakers ignoring the payoffs from gender empowerment on income distribution might be underinvesting in initiatives to empower women.
Subjects: 
income inequality
gender inequality
suffrage
fertility
women in parliament
colonialism
GINI coefficient
government
quantile regression
JEL: 
D31
D63
E25
I32
J16
O15
Document Type: 
Working Paper
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