WUNRN
UNRISD - United Nations Research
Institute for Social Development
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Publication:
Neoliberal
Development Macroeconomics
A Consideration of its Gendered Employment
Effects
Elissa Braunstein
This paper expands on
this contention, reviewing the primarily empirical research on the employment
impacts of the macroeconomic policy environment, with a particular focus on
women’s employment
whenever extant research allows. It begins by briefly characterizing the
terrain of neoliberal development macroeconomic theory and policy, both of
which are at the heart of the opportunities and constraints that emerging and
developing economies face today. Though it focuses on laying out general
principles, this paper emphasizes those aspects that are central to employment
issues. It covers the following research areas: (i) the slowdown in economic
growth and the decline in the responsiveness of employment to growth; (ii)
trade and investment liberalization and its impact on employment; (iii)
informalization and its relationship to liberalization and macroeconomic
performance; (iv) the impact of inflation targeting on employment; (v) the
impact of the increasing frequency of crisis and volatility on growth and
employment; and (vi) the public sector. These areas not represent an exhaustive
list of the relevant employment effects, but they also capture the main areas
of research into the employment effects of neoliberal macroeconomic development
policy. A lot remains to be done and understood about these relationships, as
demonstrated by the gaps in evidence and contentions covered in this paper.