The Status of
Women in Latin
America: What is
the Role of Social
Institutions?
Denis Drechsler
OECD Development Centre
Institut d‘Études Politiques
Paris  4 May 2007
1
Recently Elected Female
Heads of State in the World
Chile: M. Bachelet
Finland: T. Halonen
Germany: A. Merkel
Liberia: E. Johnson Sirleaf
2
Institutions and Development
Level 1 Institutions: Social
norms; hardly moving
Level 2 Institutions: slow
moving; e.g. property rights
Level 3 Institutions:
cooperate governance
Development
Growth
Equity
Gender
Level 4 Institutions: Fast
moving, capital flow controls
Source: Williamson 2000
3
I
Introduction: Why does gender equality matter?
II
A new tool: The Gender, Institutions and
Development Database (GID-DB)
III
Applying the GID: What is the situation of women
in Latin America?
IV
The impact of social institutions on gender
equality
V
What can be done?
VI
Conclusion
4
I) Gender equality matters…
• Gender equality = women and men have equal
conditions for realising their full human rights and for
contributing to, and benefiting from economic, social,
cultural and political development.
• Gender equality is an important goal in itself (MDG 3)…
• … and also contributes to the achievement of other
objectives:
- stimulate growth and reduce poverty
- reduce inequities
- contribute to child development
5
… but what determines it?
• Causalities between development and
gender inequalities not clear
• 2 main schools of thinking
- Modernisation-neoclassical approach
- Feminist thesis
• Measurement problems: What? How?
6
I
Introduction: Why does gender equality matter?
II
A new tool: The Gender, Institutions and
Development Database (GID-DB)
III
Applying the GID: What is the situation of women
in Latin America?
IV
The impact of social institutions on gender
equality
V
What can be done?
VI
Conclusion
7
II) The Gender, Institutions
and Development Database (GID)
• A new tool for researchers and policy makers
• Allows an analysis of obstacles to women’s
economic status
• Covers 161 economies and has around 60
indicators on gender discrimination
• Includes institutional variables that range from
intrahousehold behaviour to social norms
8
Indicators affecting the
Economic Role of Women
Input Variables
Output Variables
Social Institutions (A)
e.g. Family Code, Physical Integrity, Civil
Liberties, Ownership Rights
Access to Resources (B)
e.g. Health, Education
Economic Role of Women (D)
e.g. share of women in wage
employment in the non- agricultural sector
Political Empowerment (C)
e.g. seats in parliament held by women
Source: Own Illustration.
9
GID-Indicators:
Social Institutions
Physical Integrity
Family Code
Ownership Rights
Civil Liberties
•
Prevalence of female genital mutilation
•
Missing Women
•
Legislation punishing acts of violence against women
•
Marriage before the age of 20
•
Acceptance of polygamy within a society
•
Parental authority granted to father and mother equally
•
Inheritance practices in favour of male heirs
•
Women’s access to land ownership
•
Women’s access to bank loans
•
Women’s access to property other than land
•
Freedom of movement
•
Obligation to wear a veil in public
10
Early Marriages in India
In the Rajgarh district
of the Indian state of
Madhya Pradesh, a
group of girl brides sit
solemnly during
celebrations that will
culminate in their
weddings later in the
day.
Source: Courtesy of the United
Nations Children's Foundation
11
Violence against women
Source: BBC News
Source: AFP
According to a UN report (2000), one in three woman
in the world has been beaten, coerced into sex or
abused in some other way, most often by someone
she knows.
12
I
Introduction: Why does gender equality matter?
II
A new tool: The Gender, Institutions and
Development Database (GID-DB)
III
Applying the GID: What is the situation of women
in Latin America?
IV
The impact of social institutions on gender
equality
V
What can be done?
VI
Conclusion
13
III) The Situation of Women
in Latin America: A global and
regional perspective
• Latin America and Caribbean – LAC:
Argentina; Bolivia; Brazil; Chile; Colombia; Costa Rica;
Cuba; Dominican Rep.; Ecuador; Guatemala; Honduras;
Haiti; Jamaica; Mexico; Nicaragua; Panama; Peru; Puerto
Rico; Paraguay; El Salvador; Trinidad and Tobago;
Uruguay; Venezuela
14
Global Perspective:
Employment, Education
and Health Care
Important divide between:
- Latin America, East Asia and Pacific and OECD
countries
- South Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa and the MENA
region
15
Employment
Women in paid labour (in % of all paid workers)
50
44.4
37.5
Percentage
40
30
44.0
38.6
28.1
16.9
20
19.2
10
0
SSA
SA
MENA
EAP
ECA
LAC
Region
Source: GID Data Base
16
OECD
Education
Percentage
Girls' school enrolment
100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
primary school
secondary school
tertiary school
SSA
SA
MENA EAP
ECA
LAC OECD
Region
Source: GID Data Base
17
Education
female/male ratio
Women's literacy rate as a share of men's literacy rate
1.00
0.90
0.80
0.70
0.60
0.50
0.40
0.30
0.20
0.10
0.00
SSA
SA
MENA
EAP
ECA
LAC
Region
Source: GID Data Base
18
OECD
Health Care
Number
Maternal mortality rate*
1000
900
800
700
600
500
400
300
200
100
0
SSA
SA
MENA
EAP
ECA
LAC
Region
* of 100,000 life births
Source: GID Data Base
19
OECD
Overall: Latin America
performs comparatively well…
• Employment
- Latin America and Caribbean region has twice as many
women in the paid work force than MENA
• Education
- 30% more girls are enrolled in primary education in Latin
America than in sub-Saharan Africa
• Health Care
- Significantly lower maternal mortality rate compared to South
Asia
20
… but some regional disparities:
e.g. women in paid labour
Country
Nicaragua
Colombia
Jamaica
Haiti
Honduras
Costa Rica
Guatemala
Ecuador
Source: GID Data Base
% of all paid
workers
49.0
47.5
46.2
44.2
34.2
34.0
33.0
31.6
21
…or: literacy rate as a
share of men's literacy rate
Country
Jamaica
Nicaragua
Uruguay
Puerto Rico
Haiti
Peru
Bolivia
Guatemala
Source: GID Data Base
female/male ratio
1.09
1.01
1.01
1.00
0.93
0.90
0.87
0.81
22
…or: Maternal mortality
Country
Puerto Rico
Uruguay
Chile
Cuba
Brazil
Peru
Bolivia
Haiti
of 100,000 life
births
25
27
31
33
260
410
420
680
Source: GID Database
23
Regional disparities:
An Income Phenomenon?
• High-Income Countries - HIC
Puerto Rico
• Upper-Middle Income Countries - UMC
Argentina; Chile; Costa Rica; Mexico; Panama; Trinidad
and Tobago; Uruguay; Venezuela
• Lower-Middle Income Countries – LMC
Bolivia; Brazil; Colombia; Cuba; Dominican Rep.;
Ecuador; Guatemala; Honduras; Jamaica; Peru;
Paraguay; El Salvador
• Low-Income Countries – LIC
Haiti; Nicaragua
24
Employment
Percentage
Women in paid labour (in % of all paid workers)
50
45
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
46.6
42.4
LAC-LIC
37.5
37.4
LAC-LMC
LAC-UMC
LAC-HIC
Income group
Source: GID Data Base
25
Education
female/male ratio
Women's literacy rate as a share of men's literacy rate
1.10
1.00
0.90
0.80
0.70
0.60
0.50
0.40
0.30
0.20
0.10
0.00
LAC-LIC
LAC-LMC
LAC-UMC
LAC-HIC
Income group
Source: GID Data Base
26
Health Care
Number
Maternal mortality rate*
500
450
400
350
300
250
200
150
100
50
0
455
191
85
25
LAC-LIC
LAC-LMC
LAC-UMC
LAC-HIC
Income group
* of 100,000 life births
Source: GID Data Base
27
I
Introduction: Why does gender equality matter?
II
A new tool: The Gender, Institutions and
Development Database (GID-DB)
III
Applying the GID: What is the situation of women
in Latin America?
IV
The impact of social institutions on gender
equality
V
What can be done?
VI
Conclusion
28
Level
Social Institutions
0.5
0.45
0.4
0.35
0.3
0.25
0.2
0.15
0.1
0.05
0
SSA
SA
MENA
EAP
ECA
LAC
OECD
Region
Scale: 0 (minimum) to 1 (maximum) = level of discrimination through social institutions
Source: GID Data Base
29
IV) The Impact of Social
Institutions on Gender Equality
• Modelling approach
- (access to resources) = f (social institutions) + (log Y) +
et
- (economic role of women) = f (access to resources) +
(log Y) + et
- (economic role of women) = f (social institutions) +
(log Y) + et
30
Social Institutions and Female
Participation in the Labour Market…
% of women in paid nonagricultrual labour force
GDP (Log
income)
Social
Institutions
(GID)
GDI
(UNDP)
5.2**
(6.5)
-45.1**
(-11.7)
42.4**
(9.1)
-1.1
-40.8**
11.7
(-0.5)
(-6.1)
(0.7)
Source: Jütting, Morrison, Dayton-Johnson, Drechsler (2006)
Observations
R-squared
146
0.18
116
0.55
136
0.38
109
0.55
31
60
…a clearly negative correlation
0
20
40
GHA
UKR
ISLSVK
BGR
VNM
EST
NZL
SWE
NAM
FINRUS
HND
GBR
CAN
NOR
AUS
ISR
USA
COL
DNK
POL
ARG
IRL
HUN
FRA
ARM
BWABEN
CHE
PRT
THA
BRA
DEU
URY
CZE
NLD
ROU
AUT
BEL
PAN
LKA
PRY
VEN
KOR
ITA
ECU
PHL
GRC
NIC
TGO
JPN
ESP
ETH
CRI
HTI CHN ALB
ZAF
KEN
MUS
LUX
MYS
CUB
MEX
CHL
PER
MRT
BOL
MMR FJI
MLI
UGA ERI
DOM
NGA
MLT
SLV
IDN
CAF
GNB
ZMB
TZA
AGO
MAR
LBN
SEN
OMN
TUN MDG
JOR
BGD
KWT
CMR ZWEEGY
TUR
CIV
SYR IND
IRN
DZA
BFA
LBY
SAU
UAE
MWINPL BHRMOZ
GNQ
NER PAK
YEM
TCD
0
.2
.4
Institutions
Fitted values
.6
.8
WWORKING (non-agri %)
32
Source: GID Data Base
SDN
60
…which is more pronounced
than economic development
TJK
40
BEN
ETH
KEN
MLI
ERI
NGA
GHA
BLR
UKR
LVA
KHM
ISL
BGR
SVK
VNM
EST
NZL SWE
NAM RUS LTU
FIN
HND
GBR
MNG
CAN
NOR
ISR AUS
COL
USA
KAZ
AZE
DNK
JAM
POL HUN
ARG
SVN SGP
IRL
ARM
BWA
FRA
THA
BRA
PRT
HKG
CHE
DEU
URY
HRV
CZE
NLD
GEO
AUT
BEL
KGZ
PAN
LKA
MKD
LAO
PRYVEN
UZB
TTO
KOR
ITA
NIC
ECU
PHL
GRC
TGO
JPN
ESP
ALB
PRI
HTI
CRI
ZAF
GTM CHNGAB MYS
MUS
MEX
CHL
PER
MRT
BOL
FJIBIH
UGA
PNG
DOM
MLT
SLV
IDN SWZ
MDA
OMN
KWT
SAU BHR
GNQ
0
20
CAF
GNB
TZA ZMB
MARLBN TUN
COG
SEN AGO
JOR
BGD LSO
MDG
ZWE
EGY
SLE
CMR
TUR
CIV GMB
SDN
IND SYR
IRN
DZA
BFA
RWA
BDI
MWI
NPL
MOZ
GNB
PAK
NER
YEM
TCD
LUX
6
7
8
9
10
11
lnY
Fitted values
WWORKING (non-agri %)
33
Source: GID Data Base
1.2
Social institutions and
educational attainment
BWA
UAE
.6
.8
1
MLT
URY
NIC
FRA
USA
PHL
POL
ARG
LUX
EST
COL
CRI
UKR
HUN
CHL
AUS
SVK
CUB
DOM
BRA
RUS
PAN
ITA
BGR
VEN
ARM HND
ESP
PRY
ROU
GRC
ZAF NAM
KOR
ECU
MEX
THA
ISRLKAFJI
KWT
PRT
SLV
VNM
MUS HTI
MYS
ZWE
BHR
PER
JOR
MMR IDN
LBN
BOLCHN ALB
KEN
ZMB
TUR
CMR IRN
MDG
GNQ
TZA
GHA
NGA
OMN
LBY
TUN
DZA
UGA
SYR
CIV
ETH
TCD
IND EGY ERI
MWI
TGO BGD
MRT
MAR
SEN
CAF
MLI
.4
AGO
BEN
MOZ
.2
NPLGNB BFA
.4
Institutions
Fitted values
SDN
PAK
NER
0
SAU
.6
YEM
.8
RatioLIT
34
Source: GID Data Base
60
Average marriage age
and women in paid labour
0
20
40
GHA
BLR
MDAUKR
LVA
ISL
TJK
BGR KHM
SVK
VNM
EST
NZL
SWE
NAM
FIN
HND
RUS
LTU
GBR
MNGISR USA CAN
NOR
AUS
COL AZE
KAZ
DNK
JAM
SGP
POL
ARG
ARM
FRA IRL
BRA
THA CZE HUN
CHE SVN
HKG
URY PRT
HRV BWA
BEN
NLD
ROU
GEO
SCG
AUT
BEL
KGZ
PAN
LKA
MKD
LAO
PRY
UZB
VEN
TTO
KOR ESP
ITA JPN
NIC
ECU PRI
TGO
ALB PHL GRC
ETH HTI CHN
CRI
ZAF
GTM
KEN MEX MUSMYS LUX
CUB
GAB
CHL
PER
MRT
BOL
MMR
MLI
FJI
UGA PNG
ERI
DOM
NGA MLT
SWZ
GNBCAF ZMB SLV IDN
TZA
AGO
MAR
SEN
OMN
TUN
JOR
BGDLBR LSO
MDG
KWT
SLE
GMB
CMRZWEEGY
TUR
CIV
SDN
SYR
IND
IRN
WBG
DZA
BFA
LBY
RWA
SAU
BHR
BDI UAE
MWI
BTN
IRQ
NPL
MOZ
GNQ
PAK
NER
YEM
TCD
15
20
25
AGEMAR
Fitted values
30
35
WWORKING (non-agri %)
35
Source: GID Data Base
Early Marriage
Female population ever married at the age 15-19
0.30
0.25
Ratio
0.20
0.15
0.10
0.05
0.00
LAC-LIC
LAC-LMC
LAC-UMC
LAC-HIC
Income group
Source: GID Data Base
36
0.35
30,000
0.30
25,000
Ratio
0.25
20,000
0.20
15,000
0.15
10,000
0.10
0.05
5,000
0.00
0
Puerto Rico
Mexico
Guatemala
Nicaragua
Country
Early marriage
Source: GID Data Base
GDP per capita ($ PPP)
37
$ PPP
Early marriage and GDP p.c.
I
Introduction: Why does gender equality matter?
II
A new tool: The Gender, Institutions and
Development Database (GID-DB)
III
Applying the GID: What is the situation of women
in Latin America?
IV
The impact of social institutions on gender
equality
V
What can be done?
VI
Conclusion
38
V) What can be done?
• Empowerment of women
- More participation of women in decision making on
community level (example: quota in India)
• Sex-disaggregated data collection
• Enforcement reform of legal structures
- Monitoring systems to ensure changes
• Convince men of benefit of reforms
- Men should get incentives to accept changes and in
some cases compensation for potential losses
39
Barriers to change:
Some important caveats
• Depth of tradition
- Examples: polygamy, early marriage
- Rural population remains attached to such traditions despite their legal
interdiction
• Institutional change conflicts with men’s interest
- Examples: polygamy, repudiation
- Inequality provides men with material advantages that they lose upon
reform
• Limited enforcement of reforms
- Example: Widely toleration of violence against women by police in
northern states of India
- Wide gap in performance between the publication of a law and its
effective implementation
40
Gender equality is getting
more and more attention…
Women in Costa
Rica demonstrated
for equal rights
on International
Women’s Day
2006.
Source: AFP
41
…and a voice
Women police officers
in India have formed a
national forum to fight
sexual harassment and
discrimination from
their male colleagues.
Source: BBC news
42
India's first computerliterate village
At least one
member of
every family in
the village —
there are 850
families — has
completed basic
computer
literacy training.
Photo: M.S. Vinod
43
The Grameen phone scheme
- 'Telephone Ladies' connect
Bangladesh
Grameen phone ladies
provide villagers with a
vital link to services such
as hospitals and to
relatives both at home
and abroad, in a country
with the lowest number of
phones in South Asia.
44
I
Introduction: Why does gender equality matter?
II
A new tool: The Gender, Institutions and
Development Database (GID-DB)
III
Applying the GID: What is the situation of women
in Latin America?
IV
The impact of social institutions on gender
equality
V
What can be done?
VI
Conclusion
45
VI) Conclusion
• Gender equality is key to development
• Role of social institutions overlooked
• Changes are possible in different settings
• Need to provide the right incentives
• Strategies should be flexible and adapted
to levels of development and socioeconomic context
46
Merci!
47
Further Literature
Forsythe N., Korzeniewicz R.P. & Durrant,V. (2000). Gender
Inequalities and Economic Growth: A Longitudinal Evaluation.
Economic Development and Cultural Change, vol. 48(3), pp. 573617.
Jütting J., Morrisson C., Dayton-Johnson J. & Drechsler D. (2006).
Measuring Gender (In)equality: Introducing the Gender,
Institutions and Development Data Base (GID), OECD Working
Paper No. 247.
Jütting J., Morrisson C., Dayton-Johnson J. & Drechsler D. (2006). The
Gender, Institutions and Development Data Base, OECD Policy
Insight No. 16.
Klasen, S. (2002). Low Schooling for Girls, Slower Growth for All?
Cross-Country Evidence on the Effect of Gender Inequality in
Education on Economic Development. The World Bank Economic
Review, Vol. 16(3), pp. 315 – 373.
World Bank (2001). Engendering Development through Gender
Equality in Rights, Resources and Voice. Washington D.C.: World
Bank
48