Title: Economic growth and human development - does gender matter?

Authors: Atif Awad; Ishak Yussof; Tamat Sarmidi; Rahmah Ismail

Addresses: Alsharjah University, UAE ' National University of Malaysia, Malaysia ' National University of Malaysia, Malaysia ' National University of Malaysia, Malaysia

Abstract: Several studies examine the UNDP's 1996 hypothesis regarding the existence of a two-way relationship between economic growth and human development. This implies that improving human development could enhance economic growth opportunities and vice versa. Using Sudan time series data (1960-2012), the present study seeks to examine whether this hypothesis may vary between males and females. The empirical findings of the present study suggest that such relationships may vary between gender and over time. More specifically, whilst education and training improves the capability of females to contribute positively and significantly to a country's economic growth in the long run, improving male health reduce and significantly affects economic growth. In addition, household expenditure tends towards improving the human development of females compared to males over time. The results suggest that improving gender equality in Sudan, in addition to human development generally, also constitutes a means of attaining better economic performance, particularly in the long run.

Keywords: education; training; human development; autoregressive distributed lag; ARDL; economic growth; gender equality; Sudan; males; females; household expenditure.

DOI: 10.1504/AJESD.2015.068515

African Journal of Economic and Sustainable Development, 2015 Vol.4 No.1, pp.74 - 108

Published online: 04 Apr 2015 *

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