Accounting for Gender Production from a Growth Accounting Framework in Sub-Saharan Africa

This paper draws on an expanded growth
accounting framework to estimate the relative contribution
of women to growth in Sub-Saharan Africa. Empirical results
show a consistently positive contribution of women to growth
in gross domestic product in the region, both during
economic downturns and growth spurts. This is despite the
absence of any valuation of home-produced goods and informal
sector production, which accounts for the bulk of womens
production, in national product and income accounts.
Women's positive contribution is largely attributed to
their increased rates of labor force participation in wage
employment and the reduction in the gender gap in education
in recent years.