THE DIVISIONS OF LABOR BY GENDER - A COMMENT

This commentary on the articles by Julie Brines and Robert Fiorentine focuses on the human capital aspects of their treatment of the gender divisions of labor. Although Brines's article presents some interestin g empirical work, it does not appear to be an accurate representation of Becker's theory on the gender division of labor between the home an d the market. Fiorentine succeeds in clearly summarizing and contrasti ng economic and sociological theories on the gender division of labor across occupations, but he shows a clear bias favouring theories based on women's own choices.