Intensive Course in Gender-Sensitive Macroeconomic Modeling for Policy Analysis

Day 8: Gender, Care and Macroeconomics: Growth and Distribution

Sessions 8.1 – 8.2 Gender, Care and Macroeconomics: Growth and Distribution

Instructor: Elissa Braunstein

Topics

  1. Opening Exercise on Macromodels
  2. Illustration of a Feminist Economics model: Braunstein et al (2011)
  3. Example of an Empirical Macromodel: Braunstein et al 2020 4. Exercise 

This section will be a more technical presentation for modeling growth, care, and distribution. I will start with the Braunstein et al. models, walking through the structuralist dynamics of the baseline Kaleckian model, where the structures of growth and development are connected to social reproduction and gender inequality. Employment, output and long-run prospects for growth are driven by class dynamics as well as care and social reproduction, defined as the time and money it takes to produce, maintain and invest in the labor force. How social reproduction is organized, the extent to which it takes place in the household, public or market sectors, and the gender distribution of labor in each, influences aggregate demand and long-run productivity growth. Theoretical modeling will be supplemented by empirical applications, including growth regression analysis. Then we will also situate other papers from the project that illustrate different approaches to overlapping questions. 

Main Readings

Braunstein, Elissa, Irene Van Staveren and Daniele Tavani. 2011 “Embedding care and unpaid work in macroeconomic modeling: A structuralist approach.” Feminist Economics, 17(4): 5-31, 2011

Braunstein, Elissa, Rachid Bouhia and Stephanie Seguino. 2020. Social Reproduction, gender equality and economic growth.” Cambridge Journal of Economics 44(1): 129-155. 

Supplementary Readings

The following are all working papers from the Hewlett project that are examples of different/overlapping approaches in the gender macro-modeling literature. Students are asked to pick one, read the abstract, intro and conclusion, and come up with a 2-3 sentence characterization that conveys the following: (1) The paper’s methodological approach or place in the gender macro-modeling literature, and (2) how it relates to questions of growth and distribution. 

Recommended Readings from the Care Work and the Economy (CWE-GAM) Working Papers Series 

Agénor, P. & Agénor, M. (2019). Access to Infrastructure, Women’s Time Allocation, and Economic Growth. Care Work and the Economy Project Working Paper Series: 19-05. Program on Gender Analysis in Economics. American University. https://doi.org/10.17606/8m8y-mp65

Braunstein, E. & Tavani, D. (2020). Gender Wage Equality and Investments in Care: Modeling Equity and Production. Care Work and the Economy Project Working Paper Series: 20-10. Program on Gender Analysis in Economics. American University. https://doi.org/10.17606/kr5j-m452

Heintz, J. & Folbre, N. (2019). Endogenous Growth, Population Dynamics, and Returns to Scale: Long- Run Macroeconomics when Demography Matters. Care Work and the Economy Project Working Paper Series: 19-01. Program on Gender Analysis in Economics. American University. https://doi.org/10.17606/cg00-k580

Ilkkaracan, I., Kim, K., Masterson, T., Memiş, E. & Zacharias, A. (2020). The Impact of Investing in Social Care on Employment Generation, Time-and Income-Poverty and Gender Gaps: A Macro-Micro Simulation for Turkey. Care Work and the Economy Project Working Paper Series: 20-06. Program on Gender Analysis in Economics. American University. https://doi.org/10.17606/3dg5-sw71

Miller R., & Bairoliya, N. (2020). Parental Caregiving and Household Power Dynamics. Care Work and the Economy Project Working Paper Series: 20-05. Program on Gender Analysis in Economics. American University. https://doi.org/10.17606/dr9x-vn55

Garcia, I. G., Seom B. S. & Floro, M. S. (2020). Norms, Gender Wage Gap and Long-Term Care. Care Work and the Economy Project Working Paper Series: 20-11. Program on Gender Analysis in Economics. American University. https://doi.org/10.17606/7E2K-1508

Onaran, Ö., Oyvat, C. & Fotopoulou, E. (2019). Gendering Macroeconomic Analysis and Development Policy: A Theoretical Model for Gender Equitable Development. Care Work and the Economy Project Working Paper Series: 19-04. Program on Gender Analysis in Economics. American University.

Vasudevan, R. & Raghavendran, S. (2019). Microfinance and the Care Economy. Care Work and the Economy Project Working Paper Series: 19-03. Program on Gender Analysis in Economics. American University. http://doi.org/10.17606/e0ke-tt52 

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