Publication: COVID-19 Pandemic Through a Gender Lens
Loading...
Files in English
4,616 downloads
Date
2020-06
ISSN
Published
2020-06
Author(s)
Copley, Amy
Decker, Alison
Delavelle, Fannie
O'Sullivan, Michael
Papineni, Sreelakshmi
Editor(s)
Abstract
The coronavirus (COVID-19) (coronavirus) pandemic has led to disruptions of both social and economic activities across the globe. While the early narrative described COVID-19 (coronavirus) as the "great equalizer," asserting that the virus is capable of infecting anyone, it is critical for policymakers to understand that the impacts of COVID-19 (coronavirus) will not be the same for everyone. Experience from previous epidemics suggest that COVID-19 (coronavirus) will impact groups who are most vulnerable and amplify any existing inequalities across countries, communities, households and individuals. This note focuses on the existing gender inequalities in the economic sphere in Sub-Saharan Africa and summarizes how the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic could affect women and girls disproportionately. It draws on impact evaluation research to showcase policy options to help build women's economic resilience and minimize any potential negative impacts during the pandemic and recovery.
Link to Data Set
Citation
“Copley, Amy; Decker, Alison; Delavelle, Fannie; Goldstein, Markus; O'Sullivan, Michael; Papineni, Sreelakshmi. 2020. COVID-19 Pandemic Through a Gender Lens. Africa Knowledge in Time Policy Brief;. © World Bank. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/34016 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”
Associated URLs
Associated content
Other publications in this report series
Journal
Journal Volume
Journal Issue
Collections
Related items
Showing items related by metadata.
Publication Full Esteem Ahead? Mindset-Oriented Business Training in Ethiopia(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2019-06)Is there a mindset gap holding women back in business? Can entrepreneurship training instill a set of attitudes, behaviors, and strategies that are thought to underpin success in business such as motivation, perseverance, and self-confidence? This study conducted two randomized controlled trials to evaluate the effect of mindset-oriented business trainings on the performance of women-owned micro and small enterprises in Ethiopia. The trainings were underpinned by psychology with a mission to foster self-esteem and entrepreneurial spirit. Despite a similar approach, however, the quality of delivery seemed to matter as impacts of the trainings on business performance were mixed. A key channel for an impact on profits is if the training can actually effectuate the mindset change, with only one training transferring higher levels of entrepreneurial self-efficacy, personal initiative, and entrepreneurial locus of control to the women, relative to a control group. The study finds suggestive evidence that psychological skills and mindset are better inspired by a trainer who previously owned a business themselves and therefore may have a better understanding of the entrepreneurs' specific challenges. The study concludes that psychological skills are important for women's business success, and these skills can indeed be transferred using training, assuming a shared identity match between trainer and student. Service delivery appears to be critical for inculcating these important skills.Publication Up before Dawn(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2020-01)Small-scale cross-border trade provides opportunities for economic gains in many developing countries. Yet cross-border traders -- many of whom are women -- face harassment and corruption, which can undermine these potential gains. This paper presents evidence from a randomized controlled trial of a training intervention that provided access to information on procedures, tariffs, and rights to small-scale traders to facilitate border crossings, lower corruption, and reduce gender-based violence along the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)–Rwanda border. The training reduces bribe payment by 5 percentage points in the full sample and by 27.5 percentage points on average among compliers. The training also reduces the incidence of gender-based violence by 5.4 percentage points (30.5 percentage points among compliers). The paper assesses competing explanations for the impacts using a game-theoretic model based on Hirschman's Exit, Voice, and Loyalty framework. The effects are achieved through early border crossings at unofficial hours (exit) instead of traders' use of voice mechanisms or reduced rent-seeking from border officials. These results highlight the need to improve governance and establish clear cross-border trade regulations, particularly on the DRC side of the border.Publication Empowering Women Through Equal Land Rights(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2019-04)Traditional customary land tenure systems often limit women’s land rights in Sub-Saharan Africa.In an ongoing experiment in rural Uganda, we offered households fully-subsidized land titles and basic information about the benefits of land titling.Providing additional gender information and making the offer conditional on female co-tilting raised the take up of joint titles to about 76 percent and 89 percent, respectively, without dampening overall demand for titling.Publication Evening the Credit Score? Impact of Psychometric Loan Appraisal for Women Entrepreneurs(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2022-11)Women’s lower rates of ownership of collateralizable assets are a constraint to accessing larger business loans. This paper tests the impact of using psychometric credit scoring as a substitute for collateral for loans up to US$7,500, via a randomized controlled trial with a microfinance institution in Ethiopia. The paper finds positive impacts on women’s access to credit, and survival of their firms during the COVID-19 pandemic and conflict. Firms that remained operational were profitable; but there is limited evidence of impact on firm growth under these circumstances. The study showcases the potential for using innovative technologies to extend entrepreneurial finance to underserved markets.Publication Childcare, COVID-19 and Female Firm Exit(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2022-04)This paper estimates the impact of a large negative childcare shock on gender gaps in entrepreneurship using the shock created by national COVID-19 school closure policies. The paper leverages a unique data set of monthly enterprise data collected from a repeated cross-section of business owners across 50 countries via Facebook throughout 2020 and in 2021. The paper shows that, globally, female-led firms were, on average, 4 percentage points more likely to close their business and experienced larger revenue declines than male-led firms during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 (male firms closed at a rate of 17 percent in 2020, and 12 percent in 2021). The gender gap in firm closures persisted into 2021. The closing of schools, a key part of the care infrastructure, led to higher business closures, and women with children were more likely to close their business in response to a school closure policy than men with children. Female entrepreneurs were found to take on a greater share of the increase in the domestic and care work burden than male entrepreneurs. Finally, the paper finds that women entrepreneurs in societies with more conservative norms with respect to gender equality were significantly more likely to close their business and increase the time spent on domestic and care responsibilities in response to a school closure policy, relative to women in more liberal societies. The paper provides global evidence of a motherhood penalty and childcare constraint to help explain gender inequalities in an entrepreneurship context.
Users also downloaded
Showing related downloaded files
Publication World Development Report 1989(New York: Oxford University Press, 1989)This is the twelfth in the annual series assessing major development issues. Economic growth rates among the developing countries have varied considerably. The external environment has had an adverse impact on growth, but domestic policies have been more important. Countries striving to adjust their economies have had considerable success reducing external imbalances but less success with internal balance. In the absence of large inflows of foreign capital, countries will need to rely on the mobilization of domestic financial resources. The structure of a country's financial system reflects its economic philosophy; the present financial structure of many developing countries reflects their approach to development in the 1960s and 1970s, an approach that emphasized government intervention in the economy. Today many countries are revising their approach to rely more heavily on the private sector. For the financial sector, this implies a smaller role for government in the allocation of credit, determination of interest rates, and the daily decisionmaking of financial intermediation. Relaxation of these controls calls for an effective system of prudent regulation and supervision. Hence while the objective is an open market, countries should not remove all capital controls until other economic and financial reforms are in place.Publication Youth Employment in Sub-Saharan Africa(Washington, DC: World Bank and Agence Française de Développement, 2014-01-27)Sub-Saharan Africa has just experienced one of the best decades of growth since the 1960s. Between 2000 and 2012, gross domestic product (GDP) grew more than 4.5 percent a year on average, compared to around 2 percent in the prior 20 years (World Bank various years). In 2012, the region's GDP growth was estimated at 4.7 percent- 5.8 percent if South Africa is excluded (World Bank 2013). About one-quarter of countries in the region grew at 7 percent or better, and several African countries are among the fastest growing in the world. Medium-term growth prospects remain strong and should be supported by a rebounding global economy. The challenge of youth employment in Africa may appear daunting, yet Africa's vibrant youth represent an enormous opportunity, particularly now, when populations in much of the world are aging rapidly. Youth not only need jobs, but also create them. Africa's growing labor force can be an asset in the global marketplace. Realizing this brighter vision for Africa's future, however, will require a clearer understanding of how to benefit from this asset. Meeting the youth employment challenge in all its dimensions, demographic, economic, and social, and understanding the forces that created the challenge, can open potential pathways toward a better life for young people and better prospects for the countries where they live. The report examines obstacles faced by households and firms in meeting the youth employment challenge. It focuses primarily on productivity, in agriculture, in nonfarm household enterprises (HEs), and in the modern wage sector, because productivity is the key to higher earnings as well as to more stable, less vulnerable, livelihoods. To respond to the policy makers' dilemma, the report identifies specific areas where government intervention can reduce those obstacles to productivity for households and firms, leading to brighter employment prospects for youth, their parents, and their own children.Publication State and Trends of Carbon Pricing 2024(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-05-21)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 and some of the drivers seen over the past year. Specifically, this report covers carbon taxes, emissions trading systems (ETSs), and crediting mechanisms. Key topics covered in the 2024 report include uptake of ETSs and carbon taxes in low- and middle- income economies, sectoral coverage of ETSs and carbon taxes, and the use of crediting mechanisms as part of the policy mix.Publication Thirsty Energy (II)(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2016-01)The effect of oil and gas development on local and regional water resources can profoundly change a region’s economic possibilities, its water environment, and the vitality of its ecosystem. It is necessary to tackle the water-energy challenge today through technological innovations and institutional changes, such as integrated planning and valuing water as a resource. More information on the thirsty energy initiative can be found at www. worldbank.org/thirstyenergy.Publication Pastoralism Development in the Sahel(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2016-05-04)The World Bank’s Global Center on Conflict, Security, and Development, currently the Fragility, Conflict, and Violence Cross-Cutting Solutions Area (FCV CCSA), in 2014 commissioned this note to enhance understanding of the connection between pastoralism and the recent increase in instability and violence in the Sahel, as well as the conditions under which the development of the pastoralist economy can actually enhance regional stability. The note seeks to offer guidance to international, national, and local decision makers on the drivers of conflict and instability that are most related to pastoral communities, as well as possible measures to reduce violence and enhance stability in the Sahel.