Handbook of Research on Gender and Economic Life

Edited by Deborah M. Figart, The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey, US and Tonia L. Warnecke, Rollins College, US

The Handbook illuminates complex facets of the economic and social provisioning process across the globe. The contributors – academics, policy analysts and practitioners from wide-ranging areas of expertise – discuss the methodological approaches to, and analytical tools for, conducting research on the gender dimension of economic life. They also provide analyses of major issues facing both developed and developing countries. Topics explored include civil society, discrimination, informal work, working time, central bank policy, health, education, food security, poverty, migration, environmental activism and the financial crisis.

‘This volume has all the best features of a true handbook. Besides being well organized and well edited, it explains its subject—feminist economics in the context of neoclassical economics—in detail, in its important elements, and from a variety of approaches. … Economists and other social scientists will want to keep this volume on their shelves for reference and to assist their students.’
– Lorna Marsden, Canadian Studies in Population

‘The Handbook of Research on Gender and Economic Life edited by Debrorah Figart and Tonia Warnecke is an insightful compilation of 33 articles describing the research on the interactions between gender and economic life. It seeks to show how gender permeates every facet of economic life (the "process of provisioning for well-being") even though it is routinely disregarded by mainstream neoclassical models. The Handbook of Research on Gender and Economic Life is a grand success. Each chapter evaluates an area where gender is missing in economic models, where policy need to be addressed, and/or where stylized facts exemplify the central role gender plays.

The strength of the Handbook of Research on Gender and Economic Life lies in its breadth of coverage. The easy-to-read, well-written, and non-technical chapters would be ideal for a class on gender economics, globalization, or women's studies.

The Handbook of Research on Gender and Economic Life provides a comprehensive evaluation of gender economics. It would be difficult to find a student who could not find a topic appealing to his or her particular interests.’
– Erin George, Eastern Economic Journal

‘This volume brings together various theoretical and empirical contributions of well-known feminist economists covering a wide range of time-appropriate topics across countries. They include formal and informal labor market participation, the care economy, employment policies that affect women, and education, health and welfare. A must read for faculty, students, and practitioners of economics, feminist economics, sociology, and public and health policy... Highly recommended.’
– S. Chaudhuri, Choice

‘The excellent list of themes and chapters in this volume reflects the maturity reached by feminist economics in its different dimensions. Based on the notion of social provisioning for all as the basic objective of economics, they represent a challenge to conventional economic thought and they show the importance of understanding theory, institutions, empirical work, and policy from a gender perspective. The global perspective provided through themes and authors is a very useful contribution to the literature.’
– Lourdes Benería, Cornell University, US

‘Standard economics has a narrow and distorted vision of what “the economy” is, and how it works. Gender scholars are on the forefront of developing better, more encompassing models of human provisioning for well-being. This volume presents a wonderful sampling of these new theoretical and empirical developments.’
– Paula England, New York University, US

“这是一个顽童ressive collection that delves deeply and broadly into the myriad ways that gender shapes and alters economic lives and illuminates complex facets of the economic and social provisioning process across the globe. The chapters, by an exciting variety of researchers, policy analysts, and practitioners from numerous fields, present a consistent and persuasive vision of economic well-being as critical to the flourishing of all people.’
– Myra H. Strober, Stanford University, US