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A COMPUTABLE OVERLAPPING GENERATIONS MODEL FOR GENDER AND GROWTH POLICY ANALYSIS

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 September 2015

Pierre-Richard Agénor
Pierre-Richard Agénor*
Affiliation:
University of Manchester and Centre for Growth and Business Cycle Research
*
Address correspondence to Pierre-Richard Agénor, Hallsworth Professor of International Macroeconomics and Development Economics, School of Social Sciences, University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9PL, UK; e-mail: Pierre-richard.Agenor@manchester.ac.uk.
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Abstract

This paper develops a computable overlapping generations (OLG) model for gender and growth policy analysis that brings to the fore the role of access to public infrastructure. The model accounts for human and physical capital accumulation, intra- and intergenerational health persistence, fertility choices, and women's time allocation between market work, child rearing, and home production. Bargaining between spouses and gender bias, in the form of discrimination in the work place and mothers' time allocation between daughters and sons, are also accounted for. The model is calibrated for a low-income country and various experiments are conducted, including improved access to infrastructure, an increase in subsidies to child care, a reduction in gender bias, and a composite gender-based reform program to assess the role of policy complementarities. The results illustrate the importance of accounting for changes in women's time allocation in assessing the impact of public policy on economic growth.

Keywords

Gender-based OLG Growth ModelsWomen's Time AllocationPublic InfrastructureGender-Related Policies

Information

Type
Articles
Information
Macroeconomic Dynamics , Volume 21 , Issue 1 , January 2017 , pp. 11 - 54
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2015 

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