Secular Changes in the Gender Composition of Employment and Growth Dynamics in the North and the South

In a simple theoretical exercise, the paper shows that gender relations matter in the standard analysis of trade liberalization and economic growth. It utilizes a model with the two differential equations phase diagram technique which enables us to examine the cumulative interaction between economic growth and changes in the female share of employment. The model shows that changes in the gender composition of employment caused by a new global division of labor between the North and the South can thwart the economic benefits customarily associated with trade liberalization in both regions