Publication: Assessing the Effects of the Fiscal System on Gender Disparities in Armenia: Pilot-Study for the Engendered CEQ Methodology
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2023-06-20
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2023-06-20
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This report applies the Engendered Commitment to Equity (E-CEQ) methodology to understand the effects of the fiscal system on gender disparities in Armenia. The authors leverage data from the Living Conditions Survey (ILCS), the Labor Force Survey (LFS), and administrative sources, and we follow recommendations from the recently produced Methodological Paper on Engendered CEQ, as well as specific recommendations from the Technical Advisory Panel, to empirically test the E-CEQ method in Armenia. Since budget and fiscal data disaggregated at the intra-household level is unavailable in Armenia, as in many other countries, the authors develop a typology of households, aiming to identify characteristics associated with potential gender disparities for each household surveyed in the ILCS. In addition to calculating the standard CEQ estimators for Armenia, the authors disaggregate the effects of the fiscal system by household type. The authors find that the fiscal system in Armenia particularly, direct taxes reduces gender disparities by affecting the incomes of households that rely economically on women earners less than proportionally to those that rely on men’s earnings. The results, however, do not necessarily imply that Armenia’s fiscal system reduces overall gender disparities. The lower tax incidence on women may reflect their exclusion from formal labor markets. The results also suggest that childcare and elderly care constrain mostly women’s economic opportunities. This report constitutes a pilot for testing the first generation of E-CEQ studies. The results and scope of this assessment should be expanded in subsequent research in Armenia and other low and middle-income countries.
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“Fuchs Tarlovsky, Alan; Gonzalez Icaza, Maria Fernanda. 2023. Assessing the Effects of the Fiscal System on Gender Disparities in Armenia: Pilot-Study for the Engendered CEQ Methodology. © World Bank. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/39903 License: CC BY-NC 3.0 IGO.”
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