The evidence presented in this thesis supports the view that men and women participate in the labour force in qualitatively distinct ways and that, as a result, policies to increase female employment in the formal economy have an impact on economic development that is quite different from those whose aim is simply to increase employment with no regard to its gender composition. While it is well known that women's work is often underreported and undercounted, the thesis contends that women's "work" is also frequently defined incorrectly. From the point of view of development policy it is necessary to define women's work as embracing not only "productive" labour done for monetary gain, but also reproductive and volunteer work which, though not directly remunerated, have important feedbacks on other social, political and economic variables. Those feedbacks in turn may determine the success or failure of a particular "development" strategy. / This theory is applied to three "Asian miracle" developing countries, chosen because of their widely varied cultural, political and economic history and structures. The methodology employed is eclectic. Too often social research is bogged down in disputes between those who favour quantitative and those who favour historical-institutional analysis. In reality, especially when dealing with developing countries where there are serious problems of data quality, these two approaches can be mutually complementary. Therefore, in undertaking a comparative study of three cases, the thesis employs quantitative, historical-institutional and anthropological data along with information derived from interviews and field work. / The thesis demonstrates ample support for the hypothesis that women's labour has an importance over and above simply more hands at work, that the particular characteristics of female labour, not only produce direct payoffs in terms of development of certain types of manufacturing industries, but many indirect ones in terms of social variables like reduced fertility, increased life expectancy and greater educational attainment. However it also demonstrates that full actualization of these benefits in terms of economic prosperity, improved social welfare, and ultimately political democratization requires a state that is both willing and able (two distinct things) to implement social and economic policies designed explicitly to promote female employment in the formal economy.

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