The Impact of Economic Crisis on Global Gender Inequality: An Empirical Analysis

Abstract

This paper presents the empirical evidence of the positive relationship between financial crisis and gender inequality. The result of panel regression analysis of over 160 countries covering the period 1960-2011 shows that the occurrence of economic crisis and national labor participation rate and gender wage gap in each economic sector are positively related. The magnitude of the economic crisis is also found to be positively related to the gender wage gap in each economic sector. Along with the impact of crisis, the level of female education and gender gap in school enrollment rate are strongly related to gender wage gap. However, no significant relation is found between crisis and public expenditure on education.

Key words: Financial crisis, Crisis, Gender gap, Wage gap, Gender inequality, Labor participation gap Student number: 2008-23459