Women’s economic empowerment is not a new issue, but it continues to challenge both governments and development assistance agencies. Progress in closing the gender gap in labor force participation has stalled despite closing the gender gap in education. One reason for this may be that gender advocates and growth devotees are not pursuing both agendas simultaneously when there is a huge space for them to collaborate effectively. Gender-enhanced growth diagnostics offers a ‘win-win’ solution to this problem. It identifies distortions that constrain both economic growth and female labor force participation and can therefore point to efficient welfare-enhancing interventions that close gender gaps. Applied to Turkey, this approach reprioritizes the constraints to economic growth and inclusion.

Korea has achieved tremendous economic progress over the last three and a half decades, but in recent years growth has slowed down, and looking forward, most forecasters expect potential growth to decline substantially. The authors’ analysis of the key factors determining potential growth in Korea suggests that only if Korea implements swift reforms to address the low productivity of its service sector and prevent the decline in its labour supply, can the Korean economy achieve a doubling of its per capita income level by 2020. Without a rapid response this goal will be unachievable and the expected growth slowdown will be unavoidable. Reforms intended to boost productivity in services and labour force participation could help Korea sustain growth at double its expected real growth rate in the business-as-usual scenario in the period 2020–40.