Gender in the Economy Test 1
The social construction of economics
"Historically, and continuing to the present day, men have dominated the community of scholars who have created the (economics) discipline." In 2016, women were • 28.3 percent of assistant professors • 25.6 percent of associate professors with tenure • 13.1 percent of full professors
Affirmative Action
"Nothing is wrong with the economics discipline, it just needs more women practicing it." (add women and stir) • Why are there so few female economists? How could we change this?
collective behavior
- Individuals influence group behavior, but groups also influence individual behavior • Gaining power and control over economic resources requires strength in numbers
NC assumptions
-A lot of empirical evidence undermines the NC assumptions • many economic experiments show that people are altruistic and empathetic (as well as self-interested)
Profit Maximization
-A rational producer will use all available information and resources for its own profit maximization
Utility maximization
-A rational producer will use all available information and resources for its own profit maximization -A RATIONAL individual consumer will use all available information and resources to best satisfy his/her own exogenous preferences
Sex
-Based on Biological characteristics, external genitalia, internal sex organs -influences behavior -Does not determine behavior
Theoretical approaches
-Interpersonal -Biological influences -Cultural
Market failures & the role of government
-Many NC economists promote a laissez-faire("leave it alone") government policy toward markets •They argue that if the government imposes a tax or quota on the market, it'll only make the market LESS efficient Some NC -economists support government intervention in markets under certain circumstances: •Enforcement of property rights •Promotion of equity
Markets
-Mechanisms through which goods and services are exchanged •Producers supply goods and services to the market and sell them to consumers who demand goods and services and buy them from the producers
Nature vs Nurture
-Nature: "All differences between females and males are determined by their biological differences which are established at birth." (Biological determinism) -Nurture: "Human behavior is completely malleable through experience and interactions which determine differences in behavior between females and males."
Change
-Ongoing conflicts between groups change the relative power of each group • If an individual's economic status is partly determined by the social groups she belongs to, then she will try to improve the position of these groups
interpersonal influences
-Psychodynamic Child's early relationship with its mother influences development • Girls identify with their mother • Boys differentiate themselves from her • Girls/women identify themselves within relationships • Boys/men identify themselves as independent or autonomous -Psychological Children imitate the behavior of others in order to learn how to behave Other people reward certain types of behaviors in children and punish other types of behaviors A child can develop a sense of its gender based on what behavior it is rewarded or punished for
Gender
-socially and psychologically constructed -must be learned by the individual -Gender Identity -Gender Expression: How an individual acts in terms of masculine and feminine characteristics
Feminist Economics
1. Advancement of women within the economics profession 2. Application of economic analysis for feminist ends 3. Questioning of many basic assumptions and values of current economic practice
Feminist constructionism
1. Gender is the social meaning given to biological differences between the sexes 2. Masculinity and femininity are not essential qualities of either sex 3. "Gender" is often read as "pertaining to women," whereas male gender attributes are often seen as neutral, or universal (androcentric bias) 4. Privileging masculine ideals and disparaging feminine ideals is unjust and harmful. Feminine ideals should be elevated so they are valued as much as masculine ideals (gender value compass)
Economic Rationality
A RATIONAL individual consumer will use all available information and resources to best satisfy his/her own exogenous preferences -this process is called utility maximization -A rational producer will use all available information and resources for its own profit maximization
Altruism
ASSUMPTION: Family members are altruistic towards each other - "new home economics" • Does this contradict or undermine the other assumptions? • How do market behavior and family behavior interact with each other? Men typically have: • more economic resources than their female partners • giving them greater bargaining power • reducing incentives for altruism
Care Work
Care work: Services (paid or unpaid) that involve sustained personal contact and help people to develop their capabilities • Motivated (at least partly) by concern for the recipient's welfare • Typically provided on a face-to-face or first-name basis • Often provided to people who cannot express their own needs (children, the sick, the elderly)
Class Exploitation
Class: A group of people who have the same relation to the "means of production" and the output produced. • The capitalist class owns the means of production (capital), giving them property rights over the output, which they sell for profit • The working class provides labor in exchange for wages. They are exploited because they have no legal right to ownership of the output they produced
Separate Spheres
Competitive markets can lead to the most efficient outcome for society IF: 1. many buyers and sellers 2. markets are impersonal 3. long term relationships are unnecessary 4. quality is easy to assess
Four C's
Context,Collective behavior, conflicting interests,change
Racial exclusion
Context: history of slavery/genocide in the U.S. influences current treatment of racial minorities
Markets: Equilibrium
Equilibrium-situation with no tendency toward changeAt equilibrium:•no surplus or shortage of goods •all goods produced are sold
equity
Equity or economic equality is the concept or idea of fairness in economics, particularly in regard to taxation or welfare economics.
Feminist Empiricism
Feminist Empiricism NC tools are fine, but we should: • ask questions that are more relevant to women • interpret results in a more gender-neutral fashion
Gender domination
Gender Domination is the ability of men to assert their authority over or to rule over women
Gender and culture
Gender is prescribed by society based on an individual's sex. In U.S. culture: • Male → Masculine •Female → Feminine In some cultures gender roles are the opposite of the U.S. norm • Some cultures have more than two genders • Male and female gender norms in the U.S. have become much less differentiated over time
Learning Gender
Gender norms are typically learned through a process of socialization. -Magazines • TV/movies • Advertisements • Music • Sports • Schools • Laws • Religions
Conflicting Interests
Group goals, if met, often mean one group gains at the expense of another • Workers want the highest wages possible • Capitalists want to pay the lowest wages possible (to maximize profits) Many types of groups may be in conflict: • Male vs. female • Small business vs. large business • American workers vs. Mexican workers • White-collar vs. blue-collar
Biological
Males and females may behave differently due to: • Differences in sex chromosomes • Differences in sex hormones • Sex differences in brain structure and development Sociobiology - "Differences between the sexes can be explained in terms of reproductive and evolutionary fitness."
Invisible HAND
Markets produce economically desirable outcomes when individuals pursue their own self interest
Competition
Necessary conditions for a competitive market: •Many buyers and sellers •Homogeneous/identical products •Perfect/full information
How does PE differ from NC?
Neoclassical Economics • Rational individual behavior based on given exogenous preferences • The context in which the market exists and in which individuals act is IRRELEVANT • Views the economy as relatively static - focuses on equilibrium Political Economy • Behavior is not only individual but social as well - We are all individuals, but we all also belong to social groups • Individuals come to the market with unequal power and unequal access to resources - an unlevel playing field • Views the economy as relatively dynamic - focuses on conflict and change
The "Separative" Self
Paula England focuses on this idealization of the "separative" self in classical thought and neoclassical economic theory • No individual can be completely autonomous -at the least, we all are raised from childhood by someone else • The view of a "separative" self ignores the economic contributions of those who raise children and take care of others (mostly women) • Some basic assumptions of NC economic theory exhibit a similar male bias
context
Political economists believe that economic behavior does not occur in a vacuum; it can only be fully understood through the historical and cultural contexts in which it occurs
Private Sphere
Private Sphere • Female • Family • Unpaid housework • Altruism/Love • Invisible Heart
The Invisible Heart
Society can best reproduce itself (and the market) when members of society are cared for and raised to adulthood by other altruistic individuals • This necessary care work is often done by family members for no pay
Standpoint Theory
The gender, race, class and other standpoints we occupy influence our experience of the world • Those in groups labeled as subordinate can offer valuable insights into society • We always occupy multiple standpoints at any given point in time
Cultural Influences
Type of economy - hunter-gatherer, agrarian, industrial-capitalist, etc. • Technology can alter the level of (gender) equality -Culture typically defines gender roles: sets of expected behaviors and the values associated with them -Some roles may be more highly valued by society than others • Gender roles are internalized by individuals, which may cause dissonance when one's assigned role is not highly valued by society
Efficiency
Well-functioning (perfectly competitive) markets are economically efficient: •all transactions are mutually beneficial •no one can be made better off without making someone else worse off
Exogenous Preferences
each individual has a set of likes and dislikes (tastes)
The Gender-Value Compass
tend to assume that masculinity is positive, and femininity is negative • downplay or ignore negative aspects of masculinity and positive aspects of femininity • leave women with two undesirable options: • either adopt the (negative) feminine gender norms associated with their sex; OR • adopt the (positive) masculine gender norms and pay the cost of transgressing gender norms
Public Sphere
• Male • Market • Wage labor • Self-interest • Invisible Hand
Feminist Difference
• Women and men have much different experiences • Therefore, women are more capable of creating knowledge based on their unique experiences as women