Gender power institute concept as a trend to develop methods of gender economics: Theoretical background of the issue

Abstract

The concept, that analyses economic nature of power relationship between men and women, has been developed on the basis of synthesis of institutional economic theory tools, feminist economics and hierarchical analysis. These power relationships determine the status of men and women in a family and society economy as well as the choice of possible models of behavior. The fundamental issues of the author’s concept are: 1) internal determinacy of dependence of an economic agent-object on an agent-subject; 2) unequal evaluation of resources of a subject and an object of gender power and gender asymmetrical distribution of economic resources; 3) institutional restrictions of hierarchy of gender power distribution are the factor of its reproduction at each level of an economic system; 4) opportunities to realize human capital of men and women are restricted within the limits of institutional roles given by the system of gender power institutes; 5) internal non-coordination of the advanced power disposition reduces the quality of functioning of the whole hierarchical system of gender power institutes and is projected to the level of its interaction with social-economic system in general. The categorical apparatus of feminist economics has been specified and the author has suggested the interpretation of the following categories: gender power, an institute of gender power, institutional role of a subject of gender interaction. The opportunity to apply the postulates of the author’s concept in practice has been demonstrated in the case study of the analysis of the current system of gender power institutes in Russia. The main characteristics of inefficiency of the present system of institutes have been structured. Among them are formal washing out of power borders in macrolevel institutes and strengthening of gender power concentration in microlevel institutes, uniformity of power disposition for subjects, who are at the same hierarchy level, the aims and functions of institutes of different hierarchy level are not coherent, population is not informed enough about forms and facts of gender power manifestation, there are no inverse and horizontal relations among the system elements. The stages to define the strategic imperatives of gender power institutes system of elitist type in modern Russia have been indicated. They are 1) to study peculiarities of possible strategies of institute changes; 2) to specify determinants of quality of gender power institute system; 3) to reveal the nature and to substantiate the importance to change the current system of gender power institutes from the view point of economic agents (men and women); 4) to determine the functioning trajectory and scenario of gender power institutes of elitist type.

Keywords

gender power, gender power institute, concept, methodology, gender economy, hierarchical analysis, efficiency, agents, order, structure

For citation

Bazueva E.V. Gender power institute concept as a trend to develop methods of gender economics: Theoretical background of the issue. Perm University Herald. Economy, 2017, vol. 12, no. 3, pp. 375–387. DOI 10.17072/1994-9960-2017-3-375-387

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