Whether politics or markets are the key to gender equality in the labor market is a source of
contention. Neoliberals champion «laissez-faire», whereas historical materialist and feminist
economic theorists highlight government measures for the enhancement of women’s
economic empowerment. This study empirically investigates the effects of women’s political
rights and market liberalization on women’s economic rights. Using panel data for 115
countries over the 1981-2011 period, I find that women’s political rights positively affect
women’s economic rights. When controlling for country heterogeneity, however, market
liberalization predicts lower levels of women’s economic rights. These findings suggest that
market liberalization has a deteriorating effect on economic gender equality and support the call for government action.
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