Impact of Gender Specific Human Capital on Economic Growth: The Role of Financial Development

Abstract

This study examines the impact of gender-specific human capital on economic growth and explores how this impact depends on the level of financial development. There is considerable debate about the contribution of gender-specific human capital to substantial economic growth. This study utilized panel data from 57 countries spanning the period of 1980 to 2020 and employed pooled OLS and fixed effect techniques for empirical analysis. The results indicate that both male and female human capital exert a significant and positive impact on economic growth. Furthermore, the findings reveal that financial development undermines the positive impact of male and female human capital on economic growth, suggesting substitutability between human capital and financial development. Based on these findings, this study proposes that policymakers focus on controlling excess money supply to enhance the effectiveness of financial development.