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Does oil substitute for patriarchy?
Author(s) -
Simmons Joel W.
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
economics and politics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.822
H-Index - 45
eISSN - 1468-0343
pISSN - 0954-1985
DOI - 10.1111/ecpo.12127
Subject(s) - resource curse , egalitarianism , argument (complex analysis) , patriarchy , economics , curse , politics , affect (linguistics) , labour economics , political science , sociology , gender studies , law , biochemistry , chemistry , communication , anthropology
Critics of Ross's (American Political Science Review, 102, 2008, 107) gendered resource curse thesis argue that culture trumps oil wealth as a determinant of female labor force participation ( FLFP ). Here, I argue that, while cultural attributes do indeed affect the female labor supply, oil wealth reduces the demand for female labor by hurting the export‐oriented industries that employ female labor intensively. By reducing the demand for female labor in this way, oil wealth undermines the positive effect of gender egalitarianism on FLFP . Thus, oil curses women. Using data from the World Values Survey and the World Bank, I find support for the argument.