An empirical analysis of the impact of gender inequality and sex ratios at birth on China’s economic growth

Frontiers in Psychology

article

Xuehua Wu¹  Arshad Ali²  Taiming Zhang³  Jian Chen⁴  Wenxiu Hu⁵ 

[1] Shenzhen Strong Sports & Health Management Center;Department of Economics and Finance, Greenwich University;Business School, University of Edinburgh;Faculty of Social & Historical Sciences, University College London;Center of Population and Development Policy Studies, Fudan University;Postdoctoral Research Workstation, China Everbright Group

关键词: gender inequality;    Sex ratio at birth;    female labor perticipation;    economic growth;    China;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1003467

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: Frontiers

【 摘 要 】

The contribution of women to China's economic growth and development cannot be overemphasized. Women play important social, economic and productive roles in any economy. China remains one of the countries in the world with severe gender inequality and sex ratio at birth (SRB) imbalance. Severe gender inequality and disenfranchisement of girls with abnormally high sex ratios at birth reflect deep-rooted sexism and adversely affect girls’ development (UNICEF, 2021). For China to achieve economic growth, women should not be ignored and marginalized so that they can contribute to the country's growth, but the sex ratio at birth needs to be lowered because only women can contribute to growth. Thus, this study empirically predicts an asymmetric relationship between gender inequality, sex ratio at birth and economic growth, using NARDL model over the period 1980-2020. The NARDL results show that increases in gender inequality and sex ratio at birth significantly reduce economic growth in both the short and long term, while reductions in gender inequality and sex ratio at birth significantly boost economic growth in both the short and long term. Moreover, the results show the significant contribution of female labor force participation and female education (secondary and higher education) to economic growth. However, infant mortality rate significantly reduced economic growth. Strategically, the study recommends equal opportunities for women in employment, education, health, economics and politics to reduce gender disparities and thereby promote sustainable economic growth in China. Moreover, policymakers should introduce new population policy to stabilize the sex ratio at birth, thereby promoting China's long-term economic growth.

【 授权许可】

CC BY