Is the women's empowerment framework possible to use for an economics research?

Question

Is the women's empowerment framework possible to use for an economics research?

Answer 1

I'm not sure what you mean by "the women's empowerment framework", but I can't imagine that it wouldn't be.

One possibility is the ILO's "conceptual framework for gender analysis and planning"

http://www.ilo.org/public/english/region...

Less interesting but still feasible would be the UN Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF)

http://www.unfpa.org/swp/2004/english/ch...

What I would love to see is an analysis of firms in a transitional society, where some firms do not treat women equally while others do. Those that do should have an advantage because they have a larger pool of qualified candidates, etc.

On the other hand, if the entire society is heavily prejudiced against women, then treating women equally may become a competitive disadvantage. (The classic example in the U.S. was the deals done in men's only clubs, locker rooms, etc. and the "old-boys network".) This would be harder to study, but at least as interesting.

(Tim Harford talks about "Rational Discrimination" vs. "Irrational Discrimination" in his latest book "The Logic of Life". He deals with a few studies of racial discrimination. A study of gender discrimination along these lines would be wonderful.)