| Using cross-national aggregate data, my dissertation examines the effects of mainstream economic reform strategies, i.e., Structural Adjustment Programs (SAPs), the informalization of women's labor force, politics & cultures on women's access to resources and their decision making power. My aim in doing so is to evaluate four contrasting positions with regard to the effects of economic reforms on women's circumstances in developing societies. Broadly, I grouped them into four major camps: (1) SAPs had consistently benefited women; (2) SAPs had consistently adverse effects on women; (3) initially, SAPs had positive effects, which turned negative with time; and (4) SAPs may have initial negative impacts, but these have positive effects in the long run. In addition to their core assessment of SAPs in relation to economic factors, I proposed the incorporation of politics and culture to attain a fuller understanding of the factors affecting women's condition. Using standard measures of these variables, I trace their trajectories over time in relation to involvement in SAPs, export sector growth, and the informalization of labor. I also test for the influence of cultural and political variables on these trajectories. Thus, I develop a comprehensive approach to gender within development research so as to offer a theoretical bridge among economic, political, cultural explanations of women's circumstances. My ambition is to integrate the understanding of these very specific circumstances into the broader picture of the effects over the past several centuries of the incorporation of women into the paid labor force. Whether the experience of developing countries today will resemble that of the already developed societies is what is in dispute. Careful sociological attention to the topic seems to me of urgent concern. Methodologically, I use Seemingly Unrelated Regression (SUR) technique. In brief, I did not find any strong evidence regarding consistent negative impacts of SAPs on women, while the direction of effects for SAPs may vary with the effects of internal societal factors, i.e., politics, informalization, and cultures. |
