Editing Feminist economics (section)

===Engendering macroeconomic theories===

[[File:OECD gender wage gap 2006.jpeg|thumb|Percentage gap between median men's and women's wages, for full-time workers by OECD country, 2006. In the U.K., the most significant factors associated with the remaining gender pay gap are part-time work, education, the size of the firm a person is employed in, and occupational segregation. (Women are under-represented in managerial and high-paying professional occupations.)<ref>{{Cite journal |first= Victoria |last= Thomson |date= October 2006 |title= How Much of the Remaining Gender Pay Gap is the Result of Discrimination, and How Much is Due to Individual Choices? |journal= International Journal of Urban Labour and Leisure |volume= 7 |issue= 2 |url= http://www.ijull.co.uk/vol7/2/thomson.pdf |access-date= September 26, 2012}}</ref>]]

Central to feminist economics is an effort to alter the theoretical modeling of the economy, to reduce gender bias and inequity.<ref name="berik"/> Feminist [[macroeconomics|macroeconomic]] inquiries focus on international capital flows, fiscal austerity, deregulation and privatization, [[monetary policy]], [[international trade]] and more. In general, these modifications take three main forms: gender disaggregation, the addition of gender-based macroeconomic variables, and the creation of a two-sector system.

====Gender disaggregation====

This method of economic analysis seeks to overcome gender bias by showing how men and women differ in their consumption, investment or saving behavior. Gender disaggregation strategies justify the separation of macroeconomic variables by gender. Korkut Ertürk and Nilüfer Çağatay show how the feminization of labor stimulates investment, while an increase in female activity in housework raises savings.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Ertürk|first=Korkut|author2=Çağatay, Nilüfer|title=Macroeconomic consequences of cyclical and secular changes in feminization: An experiment at gendered macromodeling|journal=World Development|date=November 1995|volume=23|issue=11|pages=1969–1977|doi=10.1016/0305-750X(95)00090-Y}}</ref> This model highlights how gender effects macroeconomic variables and shows that economies have a higher likelihood of recovering from downturns if women participate in the labor force more, instead of devoting their time to housework.<ref name="berik"/>

====Gendered macroeconomic variables====
[[File:US womens earnings and employment by industry 2009.png|thumb|U.S. women's weekly earnings, employment, and percentage of men's earnings, by industry, 2009]]
{{See also|Gender pay gap}}

This approach demonstrates the effects of gender inequalities by enhancing macroeconomic models. Bernard Walters shows that traditional neoclassical models fail to adequately assess work related to reproduction by assuming that the population and labor are determined exogenously.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Walters|first=Bernard|title=Engendering macroeconomics: A reconsideration of growth theory|journal=World Development|date=November 1995|volume=23|issue=11|pages=1869–1880|doi=10.1016/0305-750X(95)00083-O|url=http://econpapers.repec.org/article/eeewdevel/v_3a23_3ay_3a1995_3ai_3a11_3ap_3a1869-1880.htm|citeseerx=10.1.1.475.293}}</ref> That fails to account for the fact that inputs are produced through caring labor, which is disproportionately performed by women. Stephen Knowels ''et al.'' use a neoclassical growth model to show that women's education has a positive [[statistically significant]] effect on [[labor productivity]], more robust than that of men's education.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Knowles|first=Stephen|author2=Lorgelly, Paula K.|author3=Owen, P. Dorian|title=Are educational gender gaps a brake on economic development? Some cross-country empirical evidence|journal=Oxford Economic Papers|date=January 2002|volume=54|issue=1|url=http://www4.fe.uc.pt/mapsd/knowleslorgellyowenoep02.pdf|pages=118–149|doi=10.1093/oep/54.1.118|access-date=2012-09-26|archive-date=2016-03-04|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304025850/http://www4.fe.uc.pt/mapsd/knowleslorgellyowenoep02.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref> In both of these cases, economists highlight and address the gender biases of macroeconomic variables to show that gender plays a significant role in models' outcomes.

====Two-sector system====

The two-sector system approach models the economy as two separate systems: one involving the standard macroeconomic variables, while the other includes gender-specific variables. [[Sandy Darity, Jr.|William Darity]] developed a two-sector approach for low-income, farm-based economies.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Darity|first=William|author-link=Sandy Darity, Jr.|title=The formal structure of a gender-segregated low-income economy|journal=World Development|date=November 1995|volume=23|issue=11|pages=1963–1968|doi=10.1016/0305-750X(95)00082-N}}</ref> Darity shows that [[subsistence economy|subsistence]] farming depended on the labor of women, while the production of income depended on the labor of both men and women in [[cash-crop]] activities. This model shows that when men control production and income, they seek to maximize income by persuading women to put additional effort into cash-crop production, causing increases in cash crops come at the expense of subsistence production.<ref name="berik"/>