The Gender Asset Gap Project in Ghana Abena D. Oduro Department of Economics and Centre for Social Policy Studies University of Ghana Presented at Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Small Scale Irrigation. Gender and Irrigation Workshop Best Western Hotel, Airport, Accra 14th April 2016

Outline of Presentation Objectives of the Gender Asset Gap project Methods Main Findings Methodological Insights

Gender Asset Gap Project Description A joint initiative of: The Indian Institute of Management Bangalore, Bangalore University of Ghana, Ghana Latin American Faculty of Social Sciences (FLACSO) – Ecuador Center for Latin American Studies, University of Florida (USA) Yale University (USA) American University (USA) Supported by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs under the MDG3 Fund for Gender Equality

Project Objectives Implement a multi-topic household survey that asks about women’s access to, control over, and ownership of a range of productive assets, including housing, land, livestock, businesses, savings, and consumer durables. Analyze the data to determine the patterns of asset ownership between men and women, gendered patterns of asset acquisition, and the importance of asset ownership for women’s well-being and empowerment Develop a measure of the gender-asset gap that can be used across and within countries, and Engage with national and international statistical agencies to encourage them to include individual level asset questions in regularly administered surveys.

Methods Qualitative field work Large-scale household survey of all forms of physical/financial assets

Qualitative Survey: GHANA Qualitative data collection in communities in the 10 administrative regions Focus group discussion of two female groups and one male group Key informant interviews

Survey Features, cont. All forms of physical and financial assets Principal residence Agricultural land Other real estate Livestock Agricultural tools and equipment Non-farm businesses Consumer durables Financial assets

What Informed the Design of the Questionnaire? The need to obtain information on: Owners of all assets owned by members of the household. The household asset inventory was designed to achieve this for physical assets. The form of ownership, i.e. Whether assets are owned individually or jointly Factors that are correlated with asset ownership, for example the marital and inheritance regimes Questions on marital and inheritance regimes, modes of asset acquisition were designed with this objective in mind The qualitative survey that preceded the quantitative household survey This informed the decision to ask questions on financial assets in the individual questionnaire The financial cost of implementing the survey

Structure of the Questionnaire Household Roster Household Asset Inventory Consumption module Individual Questionnaire

Definitions of Ownership Ownership – response to the question, who owns this ….? Documented ownership – is there any type of ownership document? Sales receipt, will, registered deed, etc. Ownership rights Right to sell Right to bequeath Right to use as collateral Right to rent Right to make improvements

Measures of the Gender Asset & Wealth Gaps 1) Form of Ownership 2) Share of Owners: Distribution Gap 3) Gender asset gap: Incidence Gap 4) Gender wealth gap: Share of asset value

Distribution of the Form of Ownership For each specific type of asset, cannot aggregate Unit of analysis is the asset: A parcel of land An individual animal A savings account Provides information on how each asset is owned

Distribution of the Form of Ownership Ownership may be individual or joint May own joint with spouse (or partner in a consensual union) May be joint with another member of the household May be joint with someone outside the household May be owned by “all household members”

Measuring the Distribution Gap The first measure of the gender asset gap is the distribution by sex of asset owners, irrespective of form of ownership or number of assets owned. Gap 1: The sample is asset owners

Measuring the Gender Incidence Gap The proportion of the population of women, men (aged 18 and above) who own the particular asset (irrespective of form of ownership.)

The Gender Wealth Gap; Meaning and Issues Issues to consider Different ways of asking about the value of the asset If you were to sell the asset today, how much would you receive? How much would it cost to construct a dwelling like this today? For how much could a dwelling like this in this neighbourhood be rented per month?

The Gender Wealth Gap; Meaning and Issues – Cont... Gross versus net value; The challenge posed by joint ownership; Inconsistent information on the value; Missing information on asset value

Basic Measures of the Gender Wealth Gap A comparison of the total value of females’ assets with the total value of males’ assets; Total value of females’ assets, as a percentage of the total value of males’ assets; Females’ share of the total value of assets;

Ownership Rights (Right to Sell) Alone In consultation Someone else has the right Cannot sell There is no market

Methodological Insights Qualitative data to provide information on context is important Useful to ask more than one valuation question Ownership has many layers. Collect information on all dimensions of ownership. Ask rights questions of both reported owners and people who do not report themselves to be owners

Project website: http://www.genderassetgap.org Thank You Project website: http://www.genderassetgap.org The Gender Asset Gap Project