ECON 211: Gender in the Economy Dr.

Elissa Braunstein
Summer 2009 Department of Economics
Foreign Trade University Colorado State University
Hanoi, Viet Nam elissa.braunstein@colostate.edu

Timing & Office hours

For the first two weeks of the course, we will meet from 7:30-9:30. In the last two
weeks we will switch to 10:00 -12:00. In terms of office hours, I will be in the program
office on Mondays and Wednesdays from 1:00 – 2:00. If you can’t make those times
or have a short question, feel free to email me anytime.

Course Objectives

The objectives of this course are (1) to show that gender as a social category (like
race, ethnicity and class) is relevant to the study of the economy; (2) to gain an
understanding of some of the ways in which the economy is gendered; and (3) to
examine gender in a global economic context.

Readings

All the readings listed in the syllabus are required; they are discussed on the same
day they are listed. You will be provided with electronic copies of all of the readings.

Course Assignments

1. In-class discussion & Although the class is quite large, we will engage in lot
group work of in-class discussion of the material, much of that
25 points discussion taking place in small groups.
2. Outside writing There will be two outside writing assignments; the
assignments assignment topics are written into the schedule below.
2 * 50 points = 100 It should be a maximum of two typed, double-spaced
points pages, with assignment #1 due on Monday, June 1 and
assignment #2 due on Friday, June 12.
3. Exams There will be two exams; they will not be cumulative.
2 * 100 points = 200 The questions will be a combination of short answe and
points essay. Each exam will be worth 100 points.

Course grades

Grades for the course will be determined Letter grades are assigned on a straight
by the following: scale:
A is 90-100 percent = 291 – 325
In-class group work 25 points points
Writing assignments 100 B is 80-89 percent = 259 – 290
points points
Exams 200 C is 70-79 percent = 226 – 258
points points
Total 325 points D is 60-69 percent = 194 – 225
points
F is 59 percent or less ≤193

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points

+/- will be assigned at the discretion of

the professor.

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Class expectations

Read the syllabus You are required to read the syllabus and to make yourself
aware of all the requirements and deadlines associated with this
course. Also keep in mind that the syllabus is provisional, and
that it may change as we proceed through the course.
Preparing the Lecture and class discussion will be based on the readings listed
readings that day. I expect you to come to class having completed the
readings for that day, and prepared to engage in class
discussions on the topics for that day.
Lecture notes The powerpoint slides of the lectures will be made available to
you the evening before the lecture (at the latest). I advise that
you print out the slides before coming to class, and then use the
printouts as a foundation for your in-class notes.
Late assignments Assignments are due at the beginning of class on the assigned
day. Late assignments will be penalized by 10 percent each day
that they are late.
Scheduling & There will be no early exams given unless an official excuse with
exams official documentation is presented.
Academic “The foundation of a university is truth and knowledge, each of
Integrity which relies in a fundamental manner upon academic integrity
and is diminished significantly by academic dishonesty.
Academic integrity is conceptualized as doing and taking credit
for one’s own work. A pervasive attitude promoting academic
integrity enhances the sense of community and adds value to
the educational process. All within the University are responsible
for and affected by the cooperative commitment to academic
integrity.” (CSU Catalog, “Policies and Guiding Principles:
Academic Integrity”)
Any evidence of academic dishonesty, including plagiarism or
cheating on exams, will be penalized with a failing grade for the
course.

Class Schedule

M 5/25 Introduction to the course & the meaning of gender

Julia Wood, Gendered Lives: Communication, Gender and
Culture, United States: Wadsworth, 2001, pp 16-30, 38-61
Joyce Jacobson, The Economics of Gender, Third Edition,
Maldan, MA: Blackwell, 2007, “Introduction,” pp. 1-22.

Introduction to economics

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T 5/26 & W 5/27 Neoclassical, Political Economy and Feminist Approaches
“The Basics of Neoclassical Economics” and “The Basics of
Political Economy,” in Randy Albelda, Robert Drago and
Steven Shulman, Unlevel Playing Fields: Understanding
Wage Inequality and Discrimination, pp. 43-60 & 121-142.
Nancy Folbre. 2008. “Conceptualizing the Costs of Children,”
Valuing Children, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press,
pp. 11-26.

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 Household Production & Formation
R 5/28 & F 5/29 Households as Economic Units
Joyce Jacobson, “The Household as an Economic Unit,” pp. 61-
73 & 77-79, in The Economics of Gender, Third Edition,
Maldan, MA: Blackwell, 2007
Nan Wiegersma, “Peasant Patriarchy and the Subversion of the
Collective in Vietnam,” Review of Radical Political
Economics 23(3&4): 174-197.
Steven N.S. Cheung, “Enforcement of Property Rights in
Children, and the Marriage Contract,” Economic Journal
82(326): 641-57, 1972.
M 6/1 Marriage Markets
Hung Cam Thai, “The Vietnamese Double Gender Revolt:
Globalizing Marriage Options in the Twenty-first Century,”
Amerasia Journal 29(1): 51-74.
Norimitsu Onishi, “Korean Men Use Brokers to Find Brides in
Vietnam,” The New York Times, Feb. 22, 2007.

Writing Assignment #1 Due:

Summarize the 3 approaches to economics we’ve discussed so
far: neoclassical, political economy and feminist. What are
the main features of each approach? How are they different
and how are they similar?
T 6/2 & W 6/3 Care Work
Nancy Folbre and Julie Nelson, “For Love or Money – Or Both?”
in Ellen Mutari and Deborah Figart (eds.) Women and the
Economy, New York: ME Sharpe, pp. 108-123.
M.V. Lee Badgett and Nancy Folbre, “Assigning Care: Gender
norms and economic outcomes,” International Labour
Review, 138(3): 311-326, 1999.
Thanh-Dam Truong, “Liberalisation, care and the struggle for
women’s social citizenship in Vietnam,” Institute of Social
Studies Working Paper Series No. 395, April 2004.

Labor Markets
R 6/4 & F 6/5 Labor force participation, Occupational Segregation &
Earnings Differences
William Rau and Robert Wazienski, “Industrialization, Female
Labor Force Participation, and the Modern Division of Labor
by Sex,” in Ellen Mutari and Deborah Figart (eds.) Women
and the Economy, New York: ME Sharpe, pp. 54-64.
World Bank, How do women fare in education, employment and
health? Gender analysis of the 2006 Vietnam Household
Living Standard Survey, December 2008, “Employment and
Earnings,” pp. 19-29.
Joyce Jacobson, The Economics of Gender, Third Edition,
Maldan, MA: Blackwell, 2007, “Industrialized Capitalist
Societies, Socialist & Cooperative Societies, &
Nonindustrialized Traditional Societies,” pp. 317-381.

M 6/8 Exam #1

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T 6/9 & W 6/10 Explaining differences in the paid labor market

Segregation
Joyce Jacobson, “The relationship between segregation and
earnings,” p. 205-209.

Human Capital
Joyce Jacobson, “Human Capital,” pp. 222-228.

Discrimination
Amy Y.C. Liu, “Are women still holding up half of heaven in
Vietnam? The gender wage gap,” The Australian National
University International and Development Economics
Working Paper 01-11.
Steven Shulman, “The Political Economy of Labor Market
Discrimination: A Classroom-Friendly Presentation of the
Theory,” in Ellen Mutari and Deborah Figart (eds.) Women
and the Economy, New York: ME Sharpe, pp. 207-220.

Globalization & Macroeconomics

R 6/11 & F 6/12 Background on gender & globalization
UNRISD, Gender Equality: Striving for Justice in an Unequal
World, Geneva: UNRISD, 2005.
Ch. 2, “Liberalization & Deregulation”
Ch. 3, “Liberalization, labor markets & women’s gains”
Ch. 5, “Feminization & Informalization of Labor”
Ch. 6, “The Changing Terms of Rural Living”

Writing assignment #2 due

Imagine you are writing a short essay for an introductory high
school economics textbook, and the assignment is to explain to
readers the different explanations for why women earn less
than men in Vietnam (including segregation, human capital,
and discrimination).
M 6/15 Gender and Macro Policy Reform in Viet Nam
Le Anh Tu Packard, “Gender Dimensions of Viet Nam’s
Comprehensive Macroeconomic and Structural Reform
Policies,” United Nations Research Institute for Social
Development Occasional paper no. 14 (February 2006).
T 6/16 Video: China Blue

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W 6/17 & R 6/18 The Global Care Trade: Nannies, Maids & Sex Workers
Arlie Russell Hochschild, “Love and Gold,” in Global Woman:
Nannies, Maids and Sex Workers in the New Economy, 2002,
pp. 15-38.
Pei-Chia Lan, “Among Women: Migrant Domestics and Their
Taiwanese Employers Across Generations,” in Global
Woman: Nannies, Maids and Sex Workers in the New
Economy, 2002, pp. 169-189.
Kevin Bales, “Because she looks like a child,” in Global Woman:
Nannies, Maids and Sex Workers in the New Economy, 2002,
pp. 207-229.
Denise Brennan, “Selling Sex for Visas: Sex Tourism as a
Stepping-stone to International Migration,” in Global
Woman: Nannies, Maids and Sex Workers in the New
Economy, 2002, pp. 154-168.
Nicholos Kristof, “Striking the Brothels’ Bottom Line,” The New
York Times, Jan. 11, 2009.
F 6/19 EXAM 2