Book Chapter
Two for the Price of One?

This paper describes the very different role played by female elites in contemporary developing countries, as compared to the 'early' industrializing countries of the nineteenth and early twentieth century. It shows that women are far more important in business and politics in today's developing countries than they were in developed countries at a period when the latter had equivalent, and indeed significantly higher, levels of income per capita. It outlines the way in which this greater equality is rooted in educational opportunities; and argues that both educational provision, and women's entry into the elites, must be understood with reference to changing values and attitudes. They are not simply economically determined. Finally, the paper underlines the way in which these features of business and politics strengthen elite families in developing economies.