Publication:
Governance and Women's Economic and Political Participation: Power Inequalities, Formal Constraints and Norms

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dc.contributor.authorMilazzo, Annamaria
dc.contributor.authorGoldstein, Markus
dc.date.accessioned2017-06-20T15:29:31Z
dc.date.available2017-06-20T15:29:31Z
dc.date.issued2017-06-13
dc.description.abstractWhat role do institutional constraints and social norms play in determining persistent gender gapsin economic and political participation and have institutional reforms been successful in reducing these gaps? This paper argues that, at the roots of current gender inequalities, there are traditional patriarchal social structures in which power is unequally distributed, with men traditionally holding authority over women. The power imbalance is manifested in governance arrangements, of which the author consider discriminatory formal laws and adverse gender norms that perpetuate gender inequality. The author reviewed the evidence on the effectiveness of reforms addressing gender inequality and applied via formal law changes. Aware of endogeneity issues as reforms may be adopted in countries where attitudes toward women had already been improving, we focus on micro-empirical studies that tackle this challenge. The evidence suggests that some reforms have been successful reducing inequalities. Power and norms can shift and sometimes temporary interventions can deliver long-term results. There are, however, enormous challenges posed by power inequalities and inherent social norms that are slow-moving. Formal laws can remain ineffective or cause a backlash because: i) the law is poorly implemented and/or people are not aware of it; ii) informal systems and social norms/sanctions are stronger; iii) powerful groups (in our case, men) may oppose these changes. Finally, reforms that improve women’s economic opportunities can create the conditions to increase political participation and vice-versa, thereby generating a self-reinforcing cycle of inclusion.en
dc.identifierhttp://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/506661497953688370/World-development-report-2017-Governance-and-womens-economic-and-political-participation-power-inequalities-formal-constraints-and-norms
dc.identifier.doi10.1596/27267
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10986/27267
dc.languageEnglish
dc.language.isoen_US
dc.publisherWorld Bank, Washington, DC
dc.relation.ispartofseriesWorld Development Report 2017 Background Paper;
dc.rightsCC BY 3.0 IGO
dc.rights.holderWorld Bank
dc.rights.urihttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo
dc.subjectGOVERNANCE
dc.subjectGENDER GAP
dc.subjectSOCIAL NORMS
dc.subjectINSTITUTIONAL REFORM
dc.subjectINEQUALITY
dc.subjectSOCIAL INCLUSION
dc.subjectAFRICA GENDER POLICY
dc.subjectGENDER INNOVATION LAB
dc.subjectWOMEN AND SOCIAL NORMS
dc.titleGovernance and Women's Economic and Political Participationen
dc.title.subtitlePower Inequalities, Formal Constraints and Normsen
dc.typeWorking Paperen
dc.typeDocument de travailfr
dc.typeDocumento de trabajoes
dspace.entity.typePublication
okr.associatedcontenthttps://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/34344 Journal article
okr.crossref.titleGovernance and Women's Economic and Political Participation
okr.date.disclosure2017-06-20
okr.doctypePublications & Research::Working Paper
okr.doctypePublications & Research
okr.docurlhttp://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/506661497953688370/World-development-report-2017-Governance-and-womens-economic-and-political-participation-power-inequalities-formal-constraints-and-norms
okr.guid506661497953688370
okr.identifier.doi10.1596/27267
okr.identifier.doihttps://doi.org/10.1596/27267
okr.identifier.externaldocumentum090224b084cfc716_2_0
okr.identifier.internaldocumentum27653779
okr.identifier.report116405
okr.importedtrue
okr.language.supporteden
okr.topicGender::Gender and Governance
okr.topicGender::Gender and Poverty
okr.topicGender::Gender and Social Policy
okr.topicGovernance::National Governance
okr.topicGovernance::Political Systems and Analysis
okr.topicSocial Development::Social Inclusion & Institutions
okr.unitGovernance - GP (GGODR)
relation.isAuthorOfPublication442e6ddc-d567-5db8-8fea-62f71781ad6a
relation.isAuthorOfPublication.latestForDiscovery442e6ddc-d567-5db8-8fea-62f71781ad6a
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