The representation and economic importance of women in the global labor force
have increased significantly over the past five decades. This paper uses nationally
representative data from around 100 countries from 1960 to 2019 to document gender
differences in employment and wages across sectors and occupations. We develop
an equilibrium model of occupational and sectoral choice, in which labor supply
and demand in each occupation and sector are jointly shaped by the economic forces
of structural transformation and gender-specific distortions that affect women’s
employment decisions, job sorting, and wages relative to men. Quantifying the
impact of these forces separately shows that declining gender barriers significantly
improved the allocation of talent and were a key driver of rising female labor force
participation, the expansion of the service sector, and growth in real GDP per capita
during the past five decades, but effects vary across countries.