International distribution of income and wealth in a multi-country growth model with gender division of labour and elastic labour supply

Abstract

This paper studies dynamic interactions between economic growth, economic structure, international trade pattern, and gender division of labour and leisure. It builds a multi-country growth model with endogenous time distribution between leisure and work. It emphasises effects of gender differences in human capital and propensity to leisure on global economic growth and income and wealth distribution between countries in a global economy with free trade. The model is unique in that it introduces global economic issues related to gender within a general dynamic equilibrium framework with any number of countries and endogenous wealth accumulation. The model is built on microeconomic foundations. It not only integrates the three well-known key models - the Solow growth model, the Oniki-Uzawa trade model, and the Uzawa two-sector model - in growth theory and international growth economics, but also introduces gender and endogenous time distribution between home and labour for any number of national economies.