Winner of the 2011 Victoria Schuck Award sponsored by the American Political Science Association
A major, potentially seminal work. One of the fundamental challenges in the social sciences concerns how to link micro-level processes with macro-level behaviors and outcomes. This book provides a model on how to do that, offering a methodological approach that has wide applicability throughout the social sciences. [...] It also offers numerous substantive lessons pertaining to the topic of how economic changes shape families and labor markets.-James Druckman, Northwestern University
This elegantly-argued book investigates the economic determinants of gender inequality and links sex-based discrimination to stages of production. When brawn trumps brain, Neanderthal sex relations prevail; however, when gentler skills reward achievement, women hold their own. The authors write in a lively style, rich with many wonderful facts and insights, and the overwhelming impression at the end of the volume is that patriarchy is not long for this world. -Cathie Jo Martin, Boston University
Iversen and Rosenbluth develop a micro-level bargaining model, embedded in a macro-level comparative argument. Their illuminating analysis is a major contribution to comparative political economy and gender studies.-Robert O. Keohane, Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, Princeton University
This book provides an exceptionally clear, cogent, and interdisciplinary analysis of the links between childrearing and women's individual, political, and cultural bargaining power. Its broad scope and comparative methodology provide indispensable insights into the evolution of gender inequality.-Nancy Folbre, author of
Greed, Lust, and Gender: A History of Economic Ideas Iversen and Rosenbluth construct a highly original framework for explaining temporal and cross-country variations in gender inequality. No doubt some of their conclusions will provoke controversy, but the framework allows the authors to produce a number of novel predictions, and they provide empirical evidence that supports their predictions. -John D. Stephens, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
