We posit that historical resource scarcities played a role in the emergence of gender norms inimical to women that … historical availability of arable land, are statistically significantly negatively related to their present levels of gender … inequality, as gauged by the United Nations Development Programme's Gender Inequality Index. …

Economic development is often held to be beneficial for gender equality. However, there is good reason to believe that … empirical assessment of the relative importance of development and historical determinants of gender equality at the cross …-national level. To capture this long-term relationship, a new index of gender equality that stretches back to 1960 is introduced …