Measuring Gender Equality and Institutions Improving Data Collection and Data Quality Nistha Sinha Economist, Gender and Development Unit The World Bank OECD Workshop May 25 th, 2007

2 Improving measurement of gender equality – lessons from Global Monitoring Report 2007  Applied a framework and 3 lenses to identify additional indicators Three domains: household, economy and the markets, and society Three lenses: indicators that are measurable, amenable to policy, and are strongly linked to poverty reduction and growth  Reviewed nearly a 100 indicators of gender equality in use, recommended 5 to supplement MDG3  Additional indicators needed in domains of economy and markets and society Gender gap in wages, % women with access to child care, businesses owned by men and women, men’s and women’s access to credit, land ownership Percentage voting, proportion women in executive branch, percentage women owning citizenship documents

3 Gender equality, domains of choice, and economic performance: A framework Aggregate economic performance (poverty reduction, growth) Gender equality in rights, resources and voice Household Household resource and task allocations Fertility decisions Economy & markets Access to land Financial services Labor markets Technology Society Civic and political participation Source: Global Monitoring Report 2007 (World Bank)

4 Why measure institutions?  Institutions shape the “rules of the game”  For example, as in the Gender Action Plan, institutions affect women’s economic empowerment by Making markets work for women – e.g. legislation promoting women’s employment; laws forbidding discrimination in obtaining loans Empowering women to compete in markets – e.g. social/cultural practices affecting women’s mobility and hence their access to markets  Interventions and policies can alter institutions and make them more gender equal

5 Measuring institutions – at which level?  Measure institutions in 3 domains (household, economy, society) Formal institutions - more likely to be uniform at national level Informal institutions - more likely to vary across regions within a country Sometimes informal institutions might “dominate” formal institutions Measure through focus groups, key informants Variable measures how discriminatory the institution is  Measure outcomes that reflect institutions in the 3 domains e.g. % girls married early, % experiencing gender-based violence, % girls with FGM, % accessing credit, % women owning land  Advisable not to mix measures of institutions with outcome measures Institutions are only one of the factors influencing outcomes For example % girls married at young age could be affected by marriage institutions (practice of dowry, legal age at marriage), demographic composition of population, schooling and labor market opportunities for women

6 Measuring institutions- additional indicators?  Applying the Global Monitoring Report 2007 framework to identify indicators  Household domain – marriage*, divorce, inheritance*, responding to risks, mobility*  Economy and markets – owning land*, assets, financial services*, dispute resolution, setting up business, perceptions of credit worthiness  Society domain – civil liberties*, citizenship, political activities (local, national levels), rule of law * Included in GID database

7 World Bank’s role  WB utilizes measures of institutions CPIA Doing Business Surveys  WB collects data at household and enterprise level Living Standards Measurement Surveys Enterprise Surveys

8 World Bank’s role - continued  Comparative advantage in collecting data in the domain of economy and markets  LSMS, like other household surveys, can be used to gather data on institutions e.g. Community modules can collect information from key informants or focus groups Efforts underway to gather such data through the LSMS (e.g. assets work)  Enterprise surveys Ask firms about institutions and whether they pose constraints  Doing Business Survey Next Doing Business Survey will have a gender focus

9 World Bank’s role - coordinating with other stakeholders  Gender Action Plan aims to support such coordination to improve gender statistics  Interagency and Expert Group for Gender Statistics Collaboration between WB, UNFPA and UN Statistics Division Global gender statistics program to be launched in Fall 2007 Share knowledge, tools Areas of work include engendering of population and housing censuses and household surveys