Gender inequality and development : an economic analysis a case study of Arab Gulf countries

Abstract EN

The study aimed to illustrate the concepts of development and gender equality, by linking human dimension with gender empowerment and the three aspects of human dimension are longevity, knowledge, and income as main development indicators used by United Nations.

The study attempts to examine the variation in gender empowerment through econometric models in some Arab gulf states and to see if this could be explained by socio-economic factors.

The study attempts to analyze the relationship between socioeconomic factors and gender empowerment.

The researcher tried to know and to identify the various benefits of gender equality to Arab Gulf States that may create various economic effects.

The researcher used the analytical econometric methods, through the presentation of the previous studies and using some indicators from international institutions.

The study results showed that an increase in women's socioeconomic status is related to a decrease in gender inequality, also, multiple regression analysis revealed that the variation in gender empowerment in the Arab Gulf Countries is better explained by four variables namely, female education, share of female seats in the parliament, adolescent fertility and female labor force participation.

Female education does have a significant relationship with gender inequality, suggesting that the decline of gender inequalities has been most significant in countries characterized by higher levels of female education.

Our findings suggest that a higher level of female education in a country's lower level is gender inequality.