Growth and Gender With Time Distribution

Chapter 9 models the gender division of labor in a framework of growth with heterogeneous households. There are many empirical studies on issues related to labor market and economic development with gender. On the demand side, firms have become more willing to hire women due to factors such as the rise of service sectors, anti-discrimination policy measures, the increase of higher education among women, and the development of new technologies (which allow firms to substitute male for female workers). On the supply side, for instance, women tend to work more in labor markets as a consequence of lower fertility rates, the availability of new household technologies, and the emergence of flexible-time work. It is significant to study how time distribution and economic growth interact with each other. This chapter defines the one-sector growth model with gender, leisure time, and heterogeneous groups and analyzes the dynamic behavior of the three-group model. It also examines the impact of changes in human capital of the women in group 1, group 1’s female propensity to stay at home, and group 1’s propensity to save on the economic system.