Publication: Women, Business and the Law 2025: Methodology Handbook
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2025-05-02
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2025-06-02
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Women, Business and the Law has the objective to inform research, policy discussions, and development operations on women's economic opportunities by producing primary data on laws, regulations, and policies and the extent of their enforcement. The project aims to provide measurable benchmarks for global progress toward gender equality through regular data updates, reports, and associated research covering 190 economies and 10 topics relevant to women’s economic participation.
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“World Bank. 2025. Women, Business and the Law 2025: Methodology Handbook. © World Bank. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/43281 License: CC BY-NC 3.0 IGO.”
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Publication Women, Business and the Law 2012(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2011)Women, business and the law focuses on this critical piece of the puzzle, objectively highlighting differentiations on the basis of gender in 141 economies around the world, covering six areas: accessing institutions, using property, getting a job, providing incentives to work, building credit and going to court. Women, business and the law describes regional trends and shows how economies are changing across these six areas, tracking governments' actions to expand economic opportunities for women. For men and women throughout the developing world, the chance to start and run a business or get a good job is the surest hope for a way out of poverty. It also requires good business regulation, suited to the purpose, streamlined and accessible, so that the opportunity to build a business or have a good job is dependent not on connections, wealth or power, but on an individual's initiative and ability. The doing business report has led the way in providing data to countries about creating a sounder and more streamlined business environment. Women, Business, and the Law 2012 are the second in this series of reports. This edition retains the same basic structure of the 2010 pilot edition, while significantly expanding the depth of data covered. While the number of topics covered is the same, there has been a significant expansion of the data collected within these topics, thus addressing some of the initial shortcomings of the pilot edition. The number of economies covered has also been expanded from 128 to 141.Publication Women, Business and the Law 2010 : Measuring Legal Gender Parity for Entrepreneurs and Workers in 128 Economies(Washington, DC, 2010)This report presents indicators based on laws and regulations affecting women's prospects as entrepreneurs and employees. Several of these indicators draw on the Gender Law Library, a collection of over 2,000 legal provisions impacting women's economic status. Both resources can inform research and policy discussions on how to improve women's economic opportunities and outcomes. The six indicators of gender differences in formal laws and institutions established in this report include: 1) accessing institutions, 2 ) using prpoerty, 3) getting a job, 4) dealing with taxes, 5) building credit, and 6) going to court. The first 3 indicators (accessing institutions, using property, and getting a job) capture laws that have direct gender dimensions and are based on a reading of such laws from the perspective of individual women. The 4th indicator (dealing with taxes) examines the direct and indirect gender implications of tax policy from the perspective of 4 standardized families with varying tax liabilities. The last 2 indicators (building credit and going to court) examine the ease of access to credit bureaus and courts to examine the indirect effects that microfinance institutions and dispute resolution have on women, who are more likely to rely on nontraditional financial services.Publication Striving for Business Success : Voices of Liberian Women Entrepreneurs(Washington, DC, 2014-04-01)Women in post-conflict economies face a number of challenges. Often their businesses stay at embryonic stages only, due to three key limitations relating to: knowledge of business vision and management; access to finance and markets; and access to role models and networks. Added to the complexity is the risk of having to start all over again due to their countriesapos; political instability and the limited infrastructure to make their businesses proper and become more efficient over time. This report presents findings on the situation of women entrepreneurs in Liberia. It discusses the challenges that female entrepreneurs face as well as enabling factors that they encounter when operating their businesses in Liberiaapos;s post-conflict environment. Through the voices and experiences of women - as in the IFC series quot;Voices of Women Entrepreneursquot; that inspires it - this report sheds some light on the specificities of women doing business in fragile and conflict-affected situations (FCS), such as those in Liberia. It identifies operational lessons and proposes recommendations on how to support women entrepreneurs and contribute to their economic empowerment in the transition from post-conflict to reconstruction and development. The women interviewed for this report highlighted how obstacles, such as limited financial infrastructure, restricted access to markets, and most importantly, insufficient networks to support women entrepreneurs, stifle efforts to create sustainable solutions for women entrepreneurs. The report offers operational lessons and recommendations on how to address these challenges and support womenapos;s economic participation and empowerment.Publication Ready for Growth : Solutions to Increase Access to Finance for Women-Owned Businesses in the Middle East and North Africa(Washington, DC, 2013-05)The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region is at one of the most critical turning points in its modern history. The Arab spring was driven by the desire for economic opportunity and justice in the face of poverty and unemployment. The development of strong economies that enable both women and men to enhance their livelihoods is crucial for the future of the region. The growth and success of women-owned businesses is one of the most profound changes in the business world today. There is no doubt that women are an emerging market force. However, many businesswomen are not accessing commercial credit, an essential driver of business success. Lack of access to finance and financial services is repeatedly identified as the major constraint for women business owners. This report 'ready for growth: solutions to increase access to finance for women-owned business in the Middle East and North Africa', is designed to shed a light on those barriers. It is the result of a unique International Finance Corporation (IFC) partnership with vital voices and the Middle East and North Africa Businesswomen's Network (MENA BWN). Its purpose is to fill a critical gap in our knowledge of what women-owned businesses need in terms of financial products and services. 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Globally, while women s education levels have increased and educated women now earn more than their uneducated peers, gender gaps in labor-market participation and wage levels persist. Women continue to be underrepresented in formal and higher value-added employment. This report, investing in women s employment: good for Business, good for development, is the first result of the WINvest initiative. It draws on members experiences and encourages business to tap and manage female talent in emerging and developing markets.
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Publication Women, Business and the Law 2023(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2023-03-02)“Women, Business and the Law 2023” is the ninth in a series of annual studies measuring the laws and regulations that affect women’s economic opportunity in 190 economies. The project presents eight indicators structured around women’s interactions with the law as they move through their lives and careers: Mobility, Workplace, Pay, Marriage, Parenthood, Entrepreneurship, Assets, and Pension. The 2023 edition identifies barriers to women’s economic participation and encourages reform of discriminatory laws. This year, the study also includes research, a literature review, and analysis of 53 years of reforms for women’s rights. Examining the economic decisions that women make throughout their working lives as well as tracking regulatory changes from 1970 to today, the study makes an important contribution to research and policy discussions about the state of women’s economic opportunities. By presenting powerful examples of change and highlighting the gaps still remaining, “Women, Business and the Law 2023” is a vital tool in ensuring economic empowerment for all. Data in “Women, Business and the Law 2023” are current as of October 1, 2022.Publication Exports, Labor Markets, and the Environment(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-07-14)What is the environmental impact of exports? Focusing on 2000–20, this paper combines customs, administrative, and census microdata to estimate employment elasticities with respect to exports. The findings show that municipalities that faced increased exports experienced faster growth in formal employment. The elasticities were 0.25 on impact, peaked at 0.4, and remained positive and significant even 10 years after the shock, pointing to a long and protracted labor market adjustment. In the long run, informal employment responds negatively to export shocks. Using a granular taxonomy for economic activities based on their environmental impact, the paper documents that environmentally risky activities have a larger share of employment than environmentally sustainable ones, and that the relationship between these activities and exports is nuanced. Over the short run, environmentally risky employment responds more strongly to exports relative to environmentally sustainable employment. However, over the long run, this pattern reverses, as the impact of exports on environmentally sustainable employment is more persistent.Publication Cash Transfers and Formal Labor Markets(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2021-09)Cash transfer programs have expanded widely in developing countries and have been credited for sizable reductions in poverty. However, their potential disincentive effects on beneficiaries’ labor supply have spurred a heated policy debate. This paper studies the impact of a large-scale program Bolsa Familia in Brazil on local labor markets in a context where such concerns could be particularly strong: eligibility is means-tested and the paper focuses on the formal labor market, where earnings are more easily verifiable. Yet, the analysis finds that an expansion of Bolsa Familia increased local formal employment, using variation in the size of the reform across municipalities. The evidence is consistent with multiplier effects of cash transfers in the local economy, which dominate potential negative effects on formal labor supply among beneficiaries.Publication State and Trends of Carbon Pricing 2025(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-06-10)This report provides an up-to-date overview of existing and emerging carbon pricing instruments around the world, including international, national and subnational initiatives. It also investigates trends surrounding the development and implementation of carbon pricing instruments. Specifically, this includes the use of carbon taxes, emissions trading systems and crediting mechanisms.Publication Does Gender Inequality Hinder Development and Economic Growth? Evidence and Policy Implications(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2013-02)Does the existing evidence support policies that foster growth by reducing gender inequality? The authors argue that the evidence based on differences across countries is of limited use for policy design because it does not identify the causal link from inequality to growth. This, however does not imply that inequality-reducing policies are ineffective. In other words, the lack of evidence of a causal link is not in itself evidence that the causal link does not exist. Detailed micro studies that shed light on the mechanisms through which gender inequality affects development and growth are needed to inform the design of effective policies.