Abstract
This project addresses a crucial issue of social-political and economic development: is there a relation between "freedom" and development? Phrased differently: does individual agency - the power to decide for oneself' contribute to economic efficiency and economic development and vice versa? According to current theorizing, there is indeed such a connection, and, moreover, a special role for female agency. However, the causal paths still remain largely unexplored. In this project we aim to construct datasets and develop concepts and methods to explore on a global scale the connections between agency, gender and development. We will do so by adopting a multidimensional and therefore a multidisciplinary approach to agency. Firstly, we will look at the impact of family systems (marriage patterns, household structures, inheritance rules) on the global differences in female empowerment. Secondly, we look at the level of the state: what were the rights of individuals and how did their participation develop? Thirdly, we focus on the (integrating) role of education and human capital. What is the connection between human capital development and democratic institutions? We will explore the interconnections between the three forms of agency as well as their impact on economic efficiency and productivity. Three PhD students will tackle this complex problem from respectively the angles of family systems, political systems and human capital. They will make use of already existing datasets, work on their harmonization and create new datasets as well. A major challenge is the elaboration of an empirically testable and multidimensional indicator of agency. The task of coordinating the data collection in the context of a new "index" of agency is assigned to a postdoc, who will also join the applicants in writing the synthesis.