Arming Women with Credit

Arming Women with Credit
Author: Victoria Monro
Publisher:
Total Pages: 13
Release: 2015
Genre:
ISBN:

Evidence suggests there is a structural issue, on a global scale, that affects women's ability to access credit to the same degree as men and that this imbalance in credit availability has costs for welfare, national and global economic growth. Much research comments on the effect on women from financial empowerment (of which access to credit is one facet) - this paper seeks to consider the issue from an economic perspective, rather than a social one, predominantly by focusing on the impact of less credit availability on women's entrepreneurial abilities. In Section I, I indicate some of the ways that women, face structural barriers to attaining credit. In Section II, I consider the impact of this lack of access on economic growth, giving indication of the channels by which we miss out on the growth premium of women's lack of access. In Section III, I offer a variety of motivations for policymakers to make this a priority - ranging from the impact on national health and living standards to the impact on productivity in agriculture and alleviating hunger and famine. Section IV focuses on the preconditions of resolving the problem of gender discrimination in credit provision, be they legal or cultural requirements to enable women to access credit. Section V concludes and summarises the main findings.

Excerpt: Women, Work, and Economic Growth

Excerpt: Women, Work, and Economic Growth
Author: Ms.Kalpana Kochhar
Publisher: International Monetary Fund
Total Pages: 30
Release: 2016-09-09
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1475535856

This paper analyzes various linkages and interconnections between gender inequality and the macroeconomy. The prevalence of gender inequality, particularly the presence of gender gaps in the labor force and in economic opportunities, can weigh on and impede inclusive growth. The precise nature of gender gaps varies, but in the majority of countries there are differences between men and women in decision-making power, economic participation, access to opportunities, and social norms and expectations. The analysis shows that gender gaps in pay and in access to resources, occupations, and credit, among other things, not only have negative microeconomic effects on women but also imply large costs for the aggregate economy. Differences in economic outcomes may be a consequence of unequal opportunities and enabling conditions for men and women and for boys and girls. Raising female participation could provide an important boost to growth, but women face two hurdles in participating in the workforce in Japan.

Women's Control Over Economic Resources and Access to Financial Resources, Including Microfinance

Women's Control Over Economic Resources and Access to Financial Resources, Including Microfinance
Author:
Publisher: United Nations Publications
Total Pages: 114
Release: 2009
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 9789211302752

Ensuring women's economic empowerment and access to and control over resources requires an integrated approach to growth and development, focused on gender-responsive employment promotion and informed by the interdependency between economic and social development. Social objectives need to be incorporated into economic policies. Economic growth strategies should give attention to the real economy and focus on creating a gender-sensitive macroeconomic environment, full employment and decent work, access to land, property and other productive resources as well as financial services, and full coverage of social protection measures. The Survey outlines a number of concrete recommendations in these critical areas, which if adopted, will facilitate women's equitable access to and control over economic and financial resources.

Women and Trade

Women and Trade
Author: World Bank;World Trade Organization
Publisher: World Bank Publications
Total Pages: 270
Release: 2020-09-04
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1464815569

Trade can dramatically improve women’s lives, creating new jobs, enhancing consumer choices, and increasing women’s bargaining power in society. It can also lead to job losses and a concentration of work in low-skilled employment. Given the complexity and specificity of the relationship between trade and gender, it is essential to assess the potential impact of trade policy on both women and men and to develop appropriate, evidence-based policies to ensure that trade helps to enhance opportunities for all. Research on gender equality and trade has been constrained by limited data and a lack of understanding of the connections among the economic roles that women play as workers, consumers, and decision makers. Building on new analyses and new sex-disaggregated data, Women and Trade: The Role of Trade in Promoting Gender Equality aims to advance the understanding of the relationship between trade and gender equality and to identify a series of opportunities through which trade can improve the lives of women.

Women and Credit

Women and Credit
Author: Gail Campbell
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 352
Release: 2020-07-12
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1000210960

Credit can be instrumental in equalizing opportunity and alleviating poverty, yet historically men and women have not had the same access. Partly because of this, women have been excluded from many previous economic histories. This book fills a significant gap in exploring the vexed relationship between the women and credit across time and space.Providing examples of credit agencies and initiatives in both the developing and developed world, Women and Credit raises important policy issues and makes valuable suggestions for reconfiguring the relationship between women and credit. It also answers questions previously ignored by scholars, yet of vital significance to women's studies and economic history. What contribution did women make to the development of industrial capitalism? How does women's access to credit vary across time and cultures? How has the development of mico-credit initiatives affected women's economic position and what role will such initiatives play in the future?This book is an invaluable resource for anyone in the fields of Women's studies, economic history, anthropology or development.

Women, Business and the Law 2020

Women, Business and the Law 2020
Author: World Bank Group
Publisher: World Bank Publications
Total Pages: 215
Release: 2020-04-24
Genre: Law
ISBN: 146481533X

The World Bank Group’s Women, Business and the Law examines laws and regulations affecting women’s prospects as entrepreneurs and employees across 190 economies. Its goal is to inform policy discussions on how to remove legal restrictions on women and promote research on how to improve women’s economic inclusion.

The Global Findex Database 2017

The Global Findex Database 2017
Author: Asli Demirguc-Kunt
Publisher: World Bank Publications
Total Pages: 228
Release: 2018-04-19
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1464812683

In 2011 the World Bank—with funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation—launched the Global Findex database, the world's most comprehensive data set on how adults save, borrow, make payments, and manage risk. Drawing on survey data collected in collaboration with Gallup, Inc., the Global Findex database covers more than 140 economies around the world. The initial survey round was followed by a second one in 2014 and by a third in 2017. Compiled using nationally representative surveys of more than 150,000 adults age 15 and above in over 140 economies, The Global Findex Database 2017: Measuring Financial Inclusion and the Fintech Revolution includes updated indicators on access to and use of formal and informal financial services. It has additional data on the use of financial technology (or fintech), including the use of mobile phones and the Internet to conduct financial transactions. The data reveal opportunities to expand access to financial services among people who do not have an account—the unbanked—as well as to promote greater use of digital financial services among those who do have an account. The Global Findex database has become a mainstay of global efforts to promote financial inclusion. In addition to being widely cited by scholars and development practitioners, Global Findex data are used to track progress toward the World Bank goal of Universal Financial Access by 2020 and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. The database, the full text of the report, and the underlying country-level data for all figures—along with the questionnaire, the survey methodology, and other relevant materials—are available at www.worldbank.org/globalfindex.

Gender Inequality and Economic Growth: Evidence from Industry-Level Data

Gender Inequality and Economic Growth: Evidence from Industry-Level Data
Author: Ata Can Bertay
Publisher: International Monetary Fund
Total Pages: 42
Release: 2020-07-03
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1513546279

We study whether higher gender equality facilitates economic growth by enabling better allocation of a valuable resource: female labor. By allocating female labor to its more productive use, we hypothesize that reducing gender inequality should disproportionately benefit industries with typically higher female share in their employment relative to other industries. Specifically, we exploit within-country variation across industries to test whether those that typically employ more women grow relatively faster in countries with ex-ante lower gender inequality. The test allows us to identify the causal effect of gender inequality on industry growth in value-added and labor productivity. Our findings show that gender inequality affects real economic outcomes.