Public Expenditure on Education, Human Capital and Empowerment of Women

Abstract

Difference in human capital between men and women is considered as one of the major factors that perpetuate gender wage inequality. The paper examines the effects of govern-mental policies regarding public provision of education on gender based wage inequality. A two-sector full employment model is developed where the human capital endowments of men and women are different, with the latter being typically less. Comparative static exercises show that increase in public expenditure on education with equal allocation across gender, may aggravate gender wage inequality; on the other hand, higher public expenditure with greater allocation towards education of women may narrow down the gender wage gap. The results indicate that governmental discrimination in favour of women in provision of education might compensate for the social discrimination against women in access to education and ensure empowerment of women.