Economic growth and gender inequality: an analysis of panel data for five Latin American countries

This study looks at the relationship between the feminization of the labour market —defined as a relative increase in the female labour force participation rate and in the female labour supply as measured in hours— and economic growth in five Latin American countries. On the one hand, these trends are reflected in the potential demand that labour force participation can channel into economic growth. On the other, the conditions under which women enter and remain in the labour market will determine their supply-side (i.e. cost-based) contribution to growth. Labour supply functions are calculated using the supply in terms of hours, feminization rates and estimated wages in dynamic economic growth functions. The results indicate that the feminization of the labour force bears a positive relationship with growth but that increases in the labour supply (as measured in hours) does not.