Labor markets as gendered institutions: Equality, efficiency and empowerment issues

Labor markets are gendered institutions operating at the intersection of the productive and reproductive economies. Participation in labor markets does not automatically empower women. Reduction in gender differentials in earnings may be the result of harmonizing down rather than up. Discrimination against women may persist because, in the absence of institutional changes, it is profitable. It is important to distinguish between static and dynamic, and micro- and macro-efficiency. Labor market regulation has an important role to play in the institutional transformation needed to reconcile goals of efficiency and equality. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.