Gender in economics: A story in the making 25th Colin Clark Memorial Lecture University of Queensland

Clark (1940), in his important book The Conditions of Economic Progress, charted the evolution of economic structures over the process of development. Reflecting his long-run emphasis, in this 25th Memorial Lecture I begin with an overview of the evolution of the relative bargaining power between men and women. Then I then consider one aspect of the position of women in Australian labour markets—‘glass ceilings’, which illustrate the pay gaps between otherwise identical women and men. Next I outline my experiments with coauthors that shed new light on the impact of nature and nurture on behavioural outcomes, and that reveal the importance of one particular aspect of culture. I conclude by drawing inferences about the potential for public policy intervention to improve the position of women.