Work

Human Capital Investment and the Gender Division of Labor in a Brawn-Based Economy

Year: 2012

Type: article

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.

Source: American Economic Review

DOI: 10.1257/aer.102.7.3531

Authors: Mark M Pitt, Mark R Rosenzweig, Mohammad Nazmul Hassan

Institutions: Brown University, Yale University, University of Dhaka

Language: English

Topic: Gender, Labor, and Family Dynamics

Subfield: Gender Studies

Field: Social Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

SDGs: Decent work and economic growth, Reduced inequalities, Gender equality

Open Access status: green

Funders: National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development