The Gender Gap, Fertility, and Growth

30 Pages Posted: 7 Jan 2008 Last revised: 9 Dec 2022

See all articles by Oded Galor

Oded Galor

Brown University - Department of Economics; Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR)

David N. Weil

Brown University - Department of Economics; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

Multiple version iconThere are 2 versions of this paper

Date Written: November 1993

Abstract

This paper examines a novel mechanism linking fertility and growth. Household fertility is determined by relative wages of women and men. Increasing women's wages reduces fertility by raising the cost of children relatively more than household income. Lower fertility raises the level of capital per worker which in turn, since capital is more complementary to women's labor input than men's, raises women's relative wages. This positive feedback leads to the possibility of multiple steady-state equilibria. Countries with low initial capital may converge to a development trap with high fertility, low capital, and low relative wages for women.

Suggested Citation

Galor, Oded and Weil, David Nathan, The Gender Gap, Fertility, and Growth (November 1993). NBER Working Paper No. w4550, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=480276

Oded Galor (Contact Author)

Brown University - Department of Economics ( email )

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HOME PAGE: http://www.econ.brown.edu/fac/Oded_Galor/

Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR)

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HOME PAGE: http://www.econ.brown.edu/fac/Oded_Galor/

David Nathan Weil

Brown University - Department of Economics ( email )

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