The formal structure of a gender-segregated low-income economy

Based upon insights drawn from research concerning the nature of the gender-based division of labor in agrarian regions of developing countries, a formal model is advanced of the interactions that take place in such a setting. Males are characterized as seeking to maximize their income from production of an exportable cash crop by drawing women out of household/social maintenance activities, by dint of coercion, cooperation and compensation. The paper also explores repercussions on the efficiency and output of the social maintenance or "subsistence" sector due to the loss of female laborpower to the male-controlled export sector. Finally, the impact of an International Monetary Fund mandated currency devaluation on an economy of this type is considered as well. © 1995.

Duke Scholars

Author William A. Darity Jr. Sanford School of Public Policy