Gender, Property Rights and Economic Growth: Including Women’s Rights in Studies of Growth

Abstract

Women do not receive the same property rights protections as men in many countries. Given the importance of sound property rights for economic growth, this inequality should have significant implications for growth. This paper provides a first test of the importance of women’s property rights for economic growth in a large panel of countries. Women’s property rights are significantly associated with growth even controlling for the effect of men’s rights. The association for women is larger and more robust than for men. This suggests that institutional improvements on the extensive margin can have a particularly large effect on economic growth.

Keywords: Economic Growth, Property Rights, Institutions, Gender, Economic Development

JEL Classification: O43, O47, P48, J16