NEA Presidential Address: Gender Inequality and Human Development in Sub- Saharan Africa

This Presidential Address considers the effects of gender inequality on human development in Sub-Saharan Africa. Parameter estimates from quantile and ordinal categorical latent variable specifications of the relationship between components of the Human Development Index and measures of gender inequality suggests that human development in Sub-Saharan Africa increases with respect to improvements in several measures of gender inequality. The results suggest that inegalitarian laws, norms, traditions and codes of conduct toward women constrain both human and economic development in Sub-Saharan Africa.