Nasr, Sahar2012-03-192012-03-192010978-0-8213-8190-8https://hdl.handle.net/10986/2414Women are a powerful force for sustainable economic growth. A growing body of microeconomic empirical evidence and emerging macroeconomic analysis shows that gender inequality limits economic growth in developing economies. Research also shows that considerable potential for economic growth could be realized if countries support women's full economic participation. Increases in women's income tend to correlate with greater expenditure on family welfare and children, because women often spend a greater share of their income on their children's nutrition, health care, and education. From an economic perspective, removing gender biases and maintaining a level playing field reduces possible market distortions or malfunctioning. Moreover, promoting women's participation in business may bolster women's overall participation in the labor market, because women-owned businesses are more likely to employ other women. This report analyzes the main reasons for this disparity in the Arab Republic of Egypt and proposes solutions to level the playing field and enable women's full economic contributions. The Investment Climate Survey (ICS) of 1,156 enterprises from the manufacturing sector was carried out in October 2008, using the World Bank standard methodology. The recall questionnaire of 566 enterprises was conducted in October 2008. The gender workers module was conducted in August 2005. It sampled about 15 full-time workers from each firm covered by the ICS recall survey. About 70 percent of the ICS sample is made up of small and medium firms, about 85 percent of which are owned by individuals or families. Large firms employing more than 150 workers account for about 30 percent of the sample. In about 35 percent of the sample, a woman is a main shareholder; in 15 percent of these firms, women own the majority of the firm.CC BY 3.0 IGOABSENCE OF WOMENACCESS TO FINANCEACCESS TO LANDACCESS TO MARKETSACCESS TO TRAININGBANK ACCOUNTBANKING SYSTEMBANKSBARRIERS TO WOMENBREADWINNERBREADWINNERSBUSINESS ASSOCIATIONSBUSINESS EDUCATIONBUSINESS MANAGEMENTBUSINESS OWNERBUSINESS SUCCESSBUSINESS WOMENBUSINESSWOMENCAPACITY BUILDINGCAPITAL REQUIREMENTCAPITAL STOCKCHAMBER OF COMMERCECHECKING ACCOUNTSCHILD CARECOLLATERALCOLLATERAL REQUIREMENTSCOMPENSATIONCORRUPTIONCOURTSCREDIT INFORMATIONCREDIT INFORMATION SYSTEMSCREDIT PROVISIONCULTURAL NORMSCUSTODYCUSTOMDAYCAREDEMOGRAPHIC CHARACTERISTICSDEPOSITDISCRIMINATIONDISCRIMINATION AGAINST WOMENDISCRIMINATORY PRACTICESDIVORCEDOMINANCEE-LEARNINGEARNINGSECONOMIC ACTIVITIESECONOMIC ACTIVITYECONOMIC CONTRIBUTIONECONOMIC CONTRIBUTIONSECONOMIC CRISISECONOMIC EMPOWERMENTECONOMIC GROWTHECONOMIC OPPORTUNITIESECONOMIC REFORMSECONOMIC RESOURCESEDUCATED WOMENEDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENTEMPLOYEREMPLOYERSEMPLOYMENT GROWTHEMPLOYMENT OF WOMENEMPOWERMENT OF WOMENENTERPRISE DEVELOPMENTENTREPRENEURSEQUAL OPPORTUNITYEQUAL PAYEQUALITY OF OPPORTUNITYEQUITABLE ACCESSEQUITY CAPITALEXPENDITUREEXPENDITURESFAMILIESFAMILY COURTFAMILY INCOMEFAMILY OBLIGATIONSFAMILY RESPONSIBILITIESFAMILY WELFAREFEMALEFEMALE EDUCATIONFEMALE EMPLOYEESFEMALE EMPLOYMENTFEMALE ENTERPRISESFEMALE ENTREPRENEURSFEMALE ENTREPRENEURSHIPFEMALE LABORFEMALE LABOR FORCEFEMALE LABOR FORCE PARTICIPATIONFEMALE RESPONDENTSFEMALE WORKERSFEMALESFINANCE ACCESSFINANCIAL DEVELOPMENTFINANCIAL EXCLUSIONFINANCIAL INSTITUTIONSFINANCIAL INTERMEDIARIESFINANCIAL SECTOR REFORMFINANCIAL SERVICESFOREIGN FIRMSFORMAL ECONOMYFORMS OF DISCRIMINATIONGENDERGENDER ACTIONGENDER BARRIERSGENDER BIASESGENDER CHARACTERISTICSGENDER COMPOSITIONGENDER DIFFERENCESGENDER DIMENSIONGENDER DISPARITIESGENDER EQUALITYGENDER EQUITYGENDER GAPGENDER GAPSGENDER INEQUALITIESGENDER INEQUALITYGENDER MAINSTREAMINGGENDER SEGREGATIONGENDER SPECIALISTGIRLSGREATER ACCESSGROUPS OF WOMENHOMEHOUSEHOLD CHORESHOUSEHOLDSHUMAN CAPITALHUMAN RIGHTSHUSBANDIMMIGRATIONINCOME-GENERATING ACTIVITIESINFORMAL SECTORINFORMAL WORKERSINTERNATIONAL BANKINVESTMENT PLANSJOB SECURITYJUDGEKEY CHALLENGELABOR FORCELABOR FORCE PARTICIPATIONLABOR FORCE SURVEYSLABOR LAWLABOR MARKETLABOR MARKETSLACK OF ACCESSLAWSLEGAL STATUSLEGISLATIONLIMITED ACCESSLOANLOAN APPLICATIONLOAN APPLICATION PROCEDURESLOAN-TO-DEPOSIT RATIOMAINSTREAMING GENDERMARKET ECONOMYMARRIED MALEMARRIED WOMENMATERNITY BENEFITSMATERNITY LEAVEMICRO-ENTERPRISESMICROCREDITMICROFINANCENATIONAL COUNCIL FOR WOMENNEEDS OF WOMENNUTRITIONOPEN MARKETOPPORTUNITIES FOR WOMENPARTICIPATION OF WOMENPEACEPERCEPTIONS OF GENDERPERCEPTIONS OF WOMENPOOR WOMENPREJUDICEPRIVATE CREDITPRIVATE INVESTMENTPRIVATE SECTOR BANKSPRIVATIZATIONPRODUCTIVITYPROFESSIONAL WOMENPROFITABILITYPROPORTION OF WOMENPROVISION OF CREDITPROVISION OF FINANCEREGULATORY ENVIRONMENT FOR WOMENREPRESENTATION OF WOMENRESERVE REQUIREMENTSROLE OF WOMENRURAL WOMENSAFETY NETSSAVINGSSAVINGS ACCOUNTSSEXSEX SEGREGATIONSINGLE WOMANSINGLE WOMENSMALL ENTERPRISESMALL ENTERPRISESSOCIAL CHANGESOCIAL FUNDSOCIAL INSURANCESTART-UPTRADE UNIONSUNDPUNEMPLOYED WOMENUNEMPLOYMENTUNIONUNITED NATIONSUNITED NATIONS DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMMEUNMARRIED WOMENUNSKILLED WOMENUNSKILLED WORKERSURBAN AREASURBAN DEVELOPMENTWAGE GAPWIFEWILLWIVESWOMANWOMEN EMPLOYEESWOMEN ENTREPRENEURSWOMEN IN BUSINESSWOMEN IN SOCIETYWOMEN MANAGERSWOMEN WORKERSWORKING CAPITALWORKING WOMENWorld Bank10.1596/978-0-8213-8190-8