Financial Crisis, Gender, and Power: An Analytical Framework
Author(s)
Floro, Maria; Dymski, Gary
Abstract
This paper begins to remedy the neglect of gender aspects of financial crises by exploring a suggestive micro foundational model of unequal gender power and cost-bearing in a borrower household. This model shows that financial-market liberalization can assess women’s access to formal sector employment and encourage the growth of household credit, both for a household enterprise and for the acquisition of labor-saving household assets. The price of these gains, however, is greater household risk because of greater cash-flow dependence and financial fragility. A financial crisis can force the household to bear heavier adjustment costs than would otherwise be felt; and these costs may well be borne disproportionately by women, who become more economically vulnerable as a result.
