Gender Equality and Public Policy

Paola Profeta is Professor of Public Economics at Bocconi University, Italy.

• 1. Introduction; 2. The scenario: gender gaps in education, the labour market and politics; 3. From public policy to gender equality: theory and evidence; 4. How women affect public policy; 5. How women affect firms' outcomes; 6. Global challenges, gender and public policy; 7. Conclusions.

'This ambitious project draws upon insights including from economics, public management, political science and gender theory to interrogate critical questions about gender equality in politics and the workplace. What is the impact of public policy in terms of promoting gender equality? What difference for public policy does it make if there are women leaders in politics and business? Paying particular attention to gender equality in Southern Europe, Paola Profeta argues that a greater understanding is needed of the relationship between public economics (policies) and political economy (policymakers and shapers) in order to analyse the slow and uneven progress of gender equality to date – and the ever present dangers of stalling and regression. This book will be of great interest to both feminist scholars and mainstream scholars concerned with the relationship between public policy and gender equality.' Fiona Mackay, University of Edinburgh