1. Incorporating a Gender Perspective into Economic Research: A Conceptual Framework
PEP Annual Conference Policy and Research Forum. Nairobi, Kenya, June 14th

2. Overview What is a gender perspective?
Structural sources of gender inequality
The gender division of labor and segregated labor markets
Unequal access to assets, finance, and technology
Norms, identity, and discrimination
Intra-household dynamics
Violence and insecurity
Incorporating gender into economic research

3. What is a gender perspective?
Women and men occupy different positions in the economy and are subject to different constraints.
Policies and programs have different effects on women and men.
But a gender perspective goes beyond simply comparing outcomes for women and men.
Recognition of gendered processes and dynamics in the economy.
Expands the scope of what we mean by the “economy”. Changes the way we measure the economy.
e.g. Non-market, unpaid household work.

4. Why care about gender equality?
Intrinsic and instrumental approaches to gender equality
Intrinsic – important for social justice and well-being.
Instrumental – important for achieving other objectives

5. Structural sources of gender inequality
Why structural?
Look beyond individual choices to examine how women and men are positioned differently in the economy.
Choice is still important, but women and men face different constraints.
Important for evaluating economic outcomes: e.g what do we mean by inclusive growth?

6. The gender division of labor
Unpaid household work
Non-market processes, not paid (although can be paid and involve market exchanges: domestic workers)
But important contribution to well-being and human development
Gender division of labor
Women typically spend more time working in non-market, unpaid activities compared to men.
Sources of inequality
Less income/earning potential. Constrained choices.
Heightened risks from “specialization”
Lower returns to women’s education/less investment.
Economic contribution undervalued.

7. Segregated labor markets
Women are often concentrated in lower paying, more precarious forms of employment.
Relevant for both wage- and self-employment
“Women’s work” and “men’s work”
Reinforces the gender division of labor
Women earn less in paid employment and therefore specialize in unpaid work
The need to combine unpaid and paid labor influences choices with respect to livelihood strategies

8. Unequal access to assets, finance, and technology
Financial markets often exclude women or are segregated
Segregated financial markets: women only have access to smaller-scale, informal, or marginal sources of credit.
Assets are often unequally distributed
Land tenure and inheritance laws
Reduces women’s earnings potential as operators of small-scale enterprises
Women and men may have differential access to technology
Norms regarding who operates equipment, who engages in specific types of activities

9. Norms, identity, and discrimination
Norms regarding men’s and women’s role in society and the economy can be powerful constraints.
Costs of transgressing these norms may be larger for women than men.
Collective identities and collective action
There may be a collective interest in sustaining norms that perpetuate gender inequalities (e.g. men, as a group, benefit from norms that reinforce gender inequalities)
Not fixed. Norms, conventions, and identities change over time.
Beyond a “taste for discrimination”
Collective, not simply individual, dimensions

10. Intra-household dynamics
Households are critically important economic institutions
Labor supply decisions, distribution of resources, poverty & welfare outcomes.
Bargaining power and distributive outcomes
Women may have a weaker fallback position than men. Reinforces traditional gender roles.
Access to income affects consumption patters in households with important welfare implications (e.g. children)
Access to outside options improves women’s choices and independence
Access to paid employment/entrepreneurship linked to economic empowerment

11. Violence and insecurity
Violence against women
Imposes major limitations to choices and huge costs
Threats to security limit economic choices
Travel to and from workplaces
Harassment and safety at work
Insecurity represents a real cost to women’s labor force participation and limits choice and mobility - but it is often not recognized or well measured.

12. Gender inequalities and enterprises
Gender earnings gaps
Differences in earnings between women and men
What factors explain this (segregation, assets, technology, unpaid care work)?
Economic mobility
The ability to take advantage of new opportunities as they become available.
How do constraints to mobility differ between women and men (including youth)?

13. Gender inequalities and enterprises (cont)
Skills and education gaps
Why would there be under-investment in skills acquisition among women? Example: vocational training programmes.
Supply chains and market power
What relationships exist between enterprises (including various intermediaries)?
How are small enterprises inserted into supply chains and how does this affect distributive dynamics?
Are there differences between women and men? Example: do men have better networks that advantage them in supply chains?

14. Incorporating a gender perspective into research design
Need to be aware of gender dynamics and explicitly incorporate this analysis into the design and conduct of research.
Also important for the interpretation of results
Requires examining new issues and economic dynamics
e.g. relationship between unpaid household work and enterprise development
Use both quantitative and qualitative research methods.
“Gender blind” research does not imply “gender neutral” research

15. Some practical guidelines
Try not to treat gender as a dummy variable
Separate analysis for women and men
Ask yourself: do the standard approaches contain hidden biases? Do variable definitions reflect women’s contributions?
Include gender-sensitive household variables
Composition & unpaid household work
Intra-household distribution can be important
Who gets/controls what? Access to assets, finance, technology
Recognize segregation by branch of activity
Norms and values
If information exists, include it.