Using panel regressions, this article investigates to what extent a reduction in gender inequality in education may increase growth of output at sub-national level in India. The article finds a considerable impact of gender inequality on economic growth which is robust. Point estimates suggest that 0.58% of the growth rate is accounted for by a better gender ratio in education attainment. Given the assumption that the distribution of innate abilities among males and females is equal, it is observed that under-addressed issue of gender equity has resulted in educational inequality and further to the adverse selection of a less efficient pool of labour having a negative impact on economic growth through lowering the average quality of human capital. Gender equality is an outcome-based achievement depending upon the successful accessibility of opportunities by females thereby the issue of gender equity becomes the precondition for gender equality.
BatraR., & ReioT. G.Jr., (2016). Gender inequality issues in India. Advances in Developing Human Resources, 18(1), 88–101.
6.
BenhabibJ., & SpiegelM. M. (1994). The role of human capital in economic development evidence from aggregate cross-country data. Journal of Monetary Economics, 34(2), 143–173.
7.
ChaudharyR., & VerickS. (2014). Female labour force participation in India and beyond (ILO Asia-Pacific Working Paper Series).
8.
CuberesD., & TeignierM. (2014). Gender inequality and economic growth: A critical review. Journal of International Development, 26(2), 260–276. https://doi:10.1002/jid.2983
9.
DollarD., & GattiR. (1999). Gender inequality, income and growth: Are good times good for women? (Policy Research Report Discussion Paper No. 1). Development Research Group, The World Bank.
10.
DuraisamyM., & DuraisamyP. (1999). Women in the professional and technical labour market in India: Gender discrimination in education, employment and earnings. Indian Journal of Labour Economics, 42(4), 599–612.
11.
Esteve-VolartB. (2004). Gender discrimination and growth: Theory and evidence from India. STICERD—Development Economics Papers. From 2008 this series has been superseded by Economic Organisation and Public Policy Discussion Papers, Suntory and Toyota International Centres for Economics and Related Disciplines, LSE, https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:cep:stidep:42.
12.
FedderkeJ. (2002). Technology, human capital, growth and institutional development: Lessons from endogenous growth theory?Theoria: A Journal of Social and Political Theory, 49(100), 1–26.
13.
GalorO., & WeilD. N. (1996). The gender gap, fertility and growth. The American Economic Review, 86(3), 374–387.
14.
GangopadhyayJ., & GhosalR. K. (2005). Gender inequality in Indian states-development of a gender discrimination index. Business Studies, 26, 1–12, https://www.caluniv.ac.in/dj/BS-Journal/Vol-26/Gender_Inequality.pdf.
15.
GoldinC. (1995). The U-shaped female labour force function in economic development and economic history. In SchultzT. P. (Ed.), Investment in women’s human capital and economic development (pp. 61–90). University of Chicago Press.
16.
GovindasamyB. (2003). Gender discrimination in education and economic development: A study of South Korea, China and India. International Studies, 40(4), 349–378.
17.
GujaratiD. N., & PorterD. C. (2009). Basic econometrics (5th ed.). McGraw-Hill Inc.
18.
HillM. A. & KingE. (1995). Women’s education and economic well-being. Feminist Economics, 1(2), 21–46.
19.
JonesC. I. (2002). Sources of U.S. economic growth in a world of ideas. American Economic Review, 92(1), 220–239.
20.
KlasenS. (2000). Does gender inequality reduce growth and development? Evidence from cross-country regressions (World Bank Policy Research Report Working Paper No. 7). Washington, DC.
21.
KlasenS. (2002). Low schooling for girls, slower growth for all? Cross-country evidence on the effect of gender inequality in education on economic development. World Bank Economic Review, 17(2), 315–316.
22.
KlasenS. (2016). Measuring gender inequality using the capability approach: Issues and challenges. University of Göttingen.
23.
KlasenS., & LamannaF. (2009). The impact of gender inequality in education and employment on economic growth: New evidence for a panel of countries. Feminist Economics, 15(3), 91–132.
24.
KlasenS., & Sahoo (2018). Gender segregation in education and its implications for labour market outcomes: Evidence from India [Discussion Paper Series, IZA DP No. 11660]. IZA – Institute of Labor Economics.
25.
KnowlesS., LorgellyP. K., & OwenP. D. (2002). Are educational gender gaps a brake on economic development? Some cross-country empirical evidence. Oxford Economic Papers54(1), 118–149.
26.
LagerlöfN. P. (2003). Gender equality and long-run growth. Journal of Economic Growth, 8(4), 403–426.
27.
LincoveJ. A. (2008). Growth, girls’ education and female labour: A longitudinal analysis. The Journal of Developing Areas, 41(2), 45–68.
28.
LorgellyP., & OwenD. (1999). The effect of female and male schooling on economic growth in the Barro-Lee model. Empirical Economics, 24(3), 537–557.
29.
LorgellyP. K. (2000). Are there gender-separate human capital effects on growth?A review of the recent empirical literature [U. of Nottingham CREDIT Working Paper No. 00/13]. https://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.627222
30.
MadheswaranS., & LakshmanasamyT. (1996). Occupational segregation and earnings differentials by sex: Evidence from India. Artha Vijnana, 38(4), 372–86.
31.
MammenK., & PaxsonC. (2000). Women’s work and economic development. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 14(4), 141–164.
32.
MankiwN. G., RomerD., & WeilD. N. (1992). A contribution to the empirics of economic growth. Quarterly Journal of Economics, 107(2), 407–437.
33.
MincerJ. (1981). Human capital and economic growth [NBER Working Paper 803]. National Bureau of Economic Research.
34.
MitraS., KumarS. K., & AbhayR. K. (2022). Out-of-school girls in India: A study of socioeconomic-spatial disparities. Geo Journal, 88(1), 341–357.
35.
PritchettL. (2001). Where has all the education gone?World Bank Economic Review, 15(3), 367–391. https://doi.org/10.1093/wber/15.3.367
36.
SadeghiJ. M. (1995). The relationship of gender difference in education to economic growth: A cross-country analysis (Working Papers 9521). Economic Research Forum.
37.
SchultzP. T. (2002). Why governments should invest more to educate girls. World Development, 30(2), 207–225. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0305-750X(01)00107-3
38.
SelfS., & GrabowskiR. (2004). Does education at all levels cause growth? India, a case study. Economics of Education Review, 23(1), 47–55.
39.
SolowR. (1956). A contribution to the theory of economic growth. Quarterly Journal of Economics, 70(1), 65–94. https://doi.org/10.2307/1884513
40.
SundaramA., & VannemanR. (2008). Gender differentials in literacy in India: The intriguing relationship with women’s labour force participation. World Development, 36(1), 128–143.
41.
TallmanE., & WangP. (1994). Human capital and endogenous growth: Evidence from Taiwan. Journal of Monetary Economics, 34(1), 101–124. https://doi.org/10.1016/0304-3932(94)01152-4
42.
TamH. (2011). U-shaped female labor participation with economic development: Some panel data evidence. Economics Letters, 110(2), 140–142.
43.
TilakJ. B. G. (2007). Post-elementary education, poverty and development in India. International Journal of Educational Development, 27(4), 435–445.
