China's Rebalancing and Gender Inequality

IMF Working Papers, May 11, 2021

Source details

The paper examines gender inequality in the context of structural transformation and rebalancing in China.
Documented trends:
- Declining women's relative wages during the last two decades.
- Declining women's labor force participation during the last two decades.
- These declines occurred despite rapid growth and expansion of the service sector.
Evidence from household data is consistent with a U-shaped relationship between economic development and women's labor market outcomes.

Household data are used to document labor market outcomes for women.
Empirical evidence supports a U-shaped relationship between economic development and women's labor market outcomes.
Keywords and subjects associated with the analysis include: Economic sectors, Financial crises, Gender, Gender inequality, Labor, Labor supply, Services sector, Wages, Women; and keywords such as CHIP wage data, female-to-male wage ratio, gender earnings gap, gender wage gap.

A structural transformation model is used to analyze labor market barriers for women.
The model shows that labor market barriers for women have increased over time.
Model counterfactuals suggest:
- Removing labor market barriers for women can boost gender equality.
- Increasing service sector productivity can boost both gender equality and economic growth in China.

Policies that reduce labor market barriers for women can improve gender equality.
Policies that increase service sector productivity can contribute to both gender equality and higher economic growth.