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The Effects of Economic Development, Time THE EFFECTS OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, TIME, URBANIZATION, WOMEN’S RIGHTS PROGRAMS, WOMEN’S MICROCREDIT PROGRAMS, AND WOMEN’S MARKET-ORIENTED PROGRAMS ON GENDER INEQUALITY IN INDIA by Amy Marie Kubichek B.A. in Sociology and Philosophy, Hope College, 1995 M.A. in Applied Social Research, West Virginia University, 2004 Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the School of Arts and Sciences name of school in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Sociology University of Pittsburgh 2011 UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH SCHOOL OF ARTS AND SCIENCES This dissertation was presented by Amy M. Kubichek It was defended on February 28, 2011 and approved by John Markoff, Ph.D., Distinguished University Professor, Department of Sociology Vijai Singh, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Sociology; Executive Administrator, Office of the Chancellor Steven E. Finkel, Ph.D., Daniel Wallace Professor, Department of Political Science Nuno Themudo, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, International Affairs, Graduate School of Public and International Affairs Dissertation Advisor: Lisa D. Brush, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Sociology ii Copyright © by Amy M. Kubichek 2011 iii THE EFFECTS OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, TIME, URBANIZATION, WOMEN’S RIGHTS PROGRAMS, WOMEN’S MICROCREDIT PROGRAMS, AND WOMEN’S MARKET-ORIENTED PROGRAMS ON GENDER INEQUALITY IN INDIA Amy M. Kubichek, PhD University of Pittsburgh, 2011 Since India’s independence in 1947, economists, scholars, and practitioners coming from various development paradigms have implemented numerous programs to mitigate female poverty and gender inequality in India. However, gender disparities in education, health care, and the overall female/male sex ratio persist. Whether these development programs designed for women truly promote large-scale gender equality is still open to debate. In my research, I use longitudinal quantitative methods to analyze district-level data from six Indian states for the period 1961-2001 that I have gathered from various sources, such as the Census of India, directories of women’s organizations and NGOs, and women’s development web sites. I examine whether economic growth and urbanization (associated with modernization theory), women’s rights programs, women’s market-based programs, and women’s microfinance programs lead to increases in female/male literacy ratios and female/male child sex ratios. I also analyze how region and various women’s programs interact to affect gender equality over time. I find that economic growth is associated with a decrease in female/male child sex ratios and female/male literacy ratios. Urbanization leads to a small increase in female/male literacy ratios, but has no impact on female/male child sex ratios. I also find that there is no relationship between the presence of women’s rights programs, market programs, or microfinance programs iv with variation in either female/male child sex ratios or female/male literacy ratios over time. The passage of time accounts for most of the variation in both female/male child sex ratios and female/male literacy ratios. This suggests that there are other factors that lead to changes in female/male child sex ratios and female/male literacy ratios that I do not account for in this study. v TABLE OF CONTENTS PREFACE .............................................................................................................................. XXIV 1.0 CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION ...................................................................... 1 2.0 CHAPTER TWO: GENDERED THEORIES OF DEVELOPMENT ................ 12 2.1 BRIEF HISTORY OF GENDERED DEVELOPMENT THEORIES .......... 12 2.1.1 Modernization theory ................................................................................. 12 2.1.2 Women-In-Development (WID) Theory ................................................... 19 2.1.3 Women and Development (WAD) Theory ............................................... 24 2.1.4 Neoliberal Theory ....................................................................................... 27 2.1.5 Gender-and-Development (GAD) Theory ................................................ 38 2.2 RESEARCH METHODS AND EMPIRICAL STUDIES OF DEVELOPMENT ............................................................................................... 43 2.2.1 Modernization Studies ................................................................................ 43 2.2.2 Women-in-Development Studies ............................................................... 48 2.2.3 Women and Development (WAD) Studies ............................................... 51 2.2.4 Neoliberal Studies ....................................................................................... 53 2.2.5 Gender and Development (GAD) Studies ................................................. 57 2.2.6 Studies testing multiple theories ................................................................ 59 vi 2.2.7 Studies on women and microcredit ........................................................... 68 3.0 CHAPTER THREE: THEORIES OF DEVELOPMENT AND WOMEN’S EMPOWERMENT: A RECONCEPTUALIZATION .......................................... 75 3.1 INTRODUCTION............................................................................................... 75 3.1.1 Microlending as a strategy for more gender-equitable development .... 77 3.1.2 Women’s collective action as a strategy for equitable development and empowerment .............................................................................................. 79 3.2 CONCEPTIONS OF POWER........................................................................... 85 3.2.1 “Power over”, “power to”, “power within”, and “power with” ............. 85 3.2.2 Agency, resources, and opportunity structure ......................................... 89 3.2.3 Modernization programs: fostering Western values for economic growth ....................................................................................................................... 93 3.2.4 WID programs: empowering women to participate in the labor force . 98 3.2.5 GAD programs: empowering women to transform institutions........... 104 3.2.6 Neoliberal programs: empowering women to help themselves ............ 111 3.3 CONCLUSION ................................................................................................. 121 4.0 CHAPTER FOUR – DEVELOPMENT AND GENDER INEQUALITY: FROM THEORY TO HYPOTHESES .............................................................................. 124 4.1 INTRODUCTION............................................................................................. 124 4.2 SOCIO-CULTURAL CONTEXT OF GENDER INEQUALITY ................ 125 4.2.1 National-level changes related to gender inequality .............................. 125 4.2.2 Regional context of gender inequality ..................................................... 128 4.3 MEASURES OF GENDER INEQUALITY ................................................... 135 vii 4.3.1 Female/male sex ratio ............................................................................... 135 4.3.2 Female/male child sex ratio ...................................................................... 138 4.3.3 Female/male literacy ratio ........................................................................ 143 4.3.4 Measures of gender inequality not included in this study ..................... 148 4.4 HYPOTHESES ................................................................................................. 150 4.5 CONCLUSION ................................................................................................. 156 5.0 CHAPTER FIVE: DATA AND METHODS ........................................................ 157 5.1 INTRODUCTION............................................................................................. 157 5.2 DATA COLLECTION ..................................................................................... 158 5.2.1 Data from Census of India ....................................................................... 160 5.2.2 Data on women’s development programs............................................... 162 5.3 VARIABLES ..................................................................................................... 165 5.3.1 Independent variables .............................................................................. 165 5.3.2 Dependent variables.................................................................................. 167 5.3.3 Control variable ........................................................................................ 169 5.3.4 Dealing with time ...................................................................................... 170 5.3.5 Causality .................................................................................................... 171 5.4 ANALYTIC METHODS .................................................................................. 175 5.4.1 Descriptive statistics.................................................................................. 175 5.4.2 Statistical modeling ................................................................................... 180 5.4.3 Fixed-effects models .................................................................................. 181 5.4.4 Model specification ................................................................................... 183 5.4.5 Statistical methods ...................................................................................
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