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Corresponding Author:
Charles S. Saba, School of Economics, College of Business and Economics, University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, South Africa

Coauthors:
Nicholas NGEPAH, School of Economics, College of Business and Economics, University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, South Africa
Cleide L.M. TINGA, School of Economics, College of Business and Economics, University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, South Africa

Gender Inequality and Economic Growth in Developing Countries

August 2, 2022
JEL classification: B54; D63; O47
Keywords: Gender Inequality; Economic Growth; Developing Countries; Fragile State

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to identify the relationship between gender inequality and economic growth in developing countries. The study uses a panel of countries for the period 1960 to 2019, aggregated in 5-year intervals. The system generalised method of moments (system GMM) model and the panel autoregressive distributive lag model are used to evaluate the relationship between gender inequality in human capital and economic growth across developing countries. A gender inequality index was modelled using the disparities in human capital, with the inclusion of maternal mortality. The findings of this study suggest that gender inequality accounted for a significant variability in GDP per capita. The empirical results illustrate that the gender inequality negatively impacts economic growth and that the gender gap needs to be narrowed to achieve higher levels of economic growth for low-income countries.


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Institute for International Economics
of the Genoa Chamber of Commerce


Istituto di Economia Internazionale
Camera di Commercio di Genova
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