Gender equality and economic growth: An overlapping generations approach

This Arthur Lewis x Vital Topics lecture is hosted jointly by the School of Social Sciences and Alliance Manchester Business School.

This lecture will offer a broad, accessible overview of Pierre-Richard Agénor’s latest research, drawing on fifteen years of in-depth study into the complex relationship between gender equality and economic growth, incorporating significant insights from sociology, political science, education, and health literature. Attendees can expect a cutting-edge analysis of the many facets of gender inequality, their links with economic development, and the ways in which these topics can be integrated into mainstream macroeconomics teaching.

The lecture will provide a general, non-technical introduction to these themes, making it suitable for both specialists and those new to the subject.

About the book

Closing the gender gap remains one of the defining challenges of our time. Doing so is important not only because it is a moral imperative but also because it has important implications for economic and human development. Yet, although changes in cultural attitudes, childcare policies, and technology have contributed to narrowing gender gaps over the past two decades, recent studies provide a picture of mixed progress on many fronts.

With a focus on developing countries, this book addresses three related issues. First, it characterizes, using rigorous analytical models, the extent to which economic forces, operating both at the micro and macro levels, and interacting with social norms and the political process, determine the nature of, and persistence in, gender gaps.

Second, it shows how these gaps can affect, and be affected by, economic growth. Third, using calibrated models, it quantifies how public policy (including affordable childcare, pay transparency legislation, and improved access to education and public infrastructure services) can help to promote both gender equality and economic growth.

Pierre-Richard Agénor

Pierre-Richard Agénor is Hallsworth Professor of International Macroeconomics and Development Economics at the University of Manchester. He has published numerous articles in leading professional journals and made contributions to a wide range of fields and topics in economics, including international macroeconomics, development economics, growth theory, labor economics, financial regulation, gender equality, and poverty reduction.

He is the author of several books, including The Economics of Adjustment and Growth (Harvard University Press), Public Capital, Growth and Welfare (Princeton University Press), Monetary Policy and Macroprudential Regulation with Financial Frictions (MIT Press and Springer Verlag) and Development Macroeconomics (with P. J. Montiel, Princeton University Press).

The Arthur Lewis lecture series

The prestigious annual Arthur Lewis lecture series was established in 2015 by the School of Social Sciences to mark the 100th anniversary of the birth of economist Arthur Lewis, who became Britain's first black professor when he was appointed to a Chair at Manchester in 1948.

William Arthur Lewis served as the Stanley Jevons Professor of Political Economy at the Victoria University of Manchester, within the Faculty of Economic and Social Studies, from 1948 to 1957. During his tenure, he published pioneering work in Development and Growth Economics, which ultimately led to his being awarded the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics in 1979, jointly with Theodore Schultz. The lecture series celebrates his enduring legacy and contributions to the field.

The Vital Topics lecture series

The Vital Topics lecture series, hosted by Alliance Manchester Business School, brings together influential business leaders, policymakers, and industry experts to share powerful ideas and fresh perspectives on the most pressing issues of our time. Running since 1972 and now reaching a global audience, the series has featured renowned figures from business, politics, and beyond.