## ppea2024003 — EXECUTIVE SUMMARY (Interim Guidance Note on Gender Mainstreaming), December 6, 2023 ## Source details **Canonical URL:** [ppea2024003 — EXECUTIVE SUMMARY (Interim Guidance Note on Gender Mainstreaming), December 6, 2023](https://www.imf.org/-/media/files/publications/pp/2024/english/ppea2024003.pdf) ## Other formats - [Markdown version](/-/media/files/publications/pp/2024/english/ppea2024003.pdf.md) - [Structured JSON version](/-/media/files/publications/pp/2024/english/ppea2024003.pdf.json) --- ### Introduction and purpose - The 2022 IMF Strategy Toward Mainstreaming Gender calls for gradual, systematic integration of gender considerations into surveillance, lending, and capacity development (CD). - This interim guidance note provides initial operational guidance to staff; a full guidance note is planned for FY26. - Document date: December 6, 2023. ### Rationale: why integrate gender into IMF work - Core empirical and model-based points: - The global median rate of female labor force participation is about 15 percentage points lower than the male rate. - For OECD countries, the gender wage gap was estimated at 11.6 percentage points in 2020. - Women hold 26.5 percent of seats in parliament and 22 percent of ministerial-level positions on average globally. - Globally, only 22 central bank governors are female (OMFIF, 2023). - Women accounted for 5 percent of Chief Executive Officers of commercial banks as of end–2022 (Čihák and Sahay, 2023). - Unpaid work estimates: unpaid work accounts for some 35 percent of GDP on average in Bridgman and others (2018) sample; ranges cited from 10 percent of GDP in Korea to 60 percent of GDP in Albania (Alonso and others, 2019). - Conservative model-based estimates: policies to reduce and redistribute unpaid work across gender could amount to up to 4 percent of GDP (Alonso and others, 2019). - Globally, almost one in three women ages 15 years or older in 2018 had experienced either intimate partner violence or non-intimate partner sexual violence at least once in their lifetime (WHO, 2021). - Evidence from sub-Saharan Africa: increasing the share of women subjected to violence by one percentage point can reduce economic activity by up to 8 percent (Ouedraogo and Stenzel, 2021). - In emerging markets, one fifth of girls are married before the age of 18; eliminating child marriage would raise long term annual per capita real GDP growth in emerging markets by more than 1 percentage point (Mitra and others, 2020). - During recovery from COVID-19, four out of five jobs created in 2022 for women were informal (versus two of three for men) (ILO 2023). - Model and comparative simulations: - Reducing gender gaps in line with the average decrease seen in the top 5 percent best performing countries during 2014-19 could yield an average GDP gain of 7.7 percent. - Closing gender gaps in labor force participation in 128 emerging and developing economies could yield a GDP gain of 23 percent on average, provided frictions are addressed. ### Operational guidance: core principles and scope - Guiding principles: - Macrocriticality: assess different standards for surveillance, lending, and CD. - Evenhandedness: uniformity of treatment across members. - Implementation approach: - Staff to deepen understanding over time; progress from lighter “conversation starter” and “light touch” analyses to “deep dive” analyses as capacity and experience grow. ### Frictions-based framework and analytical steps - Frictions-based approach: start from IMF’s traditional macroeconomic baseline and identify barriers or “frictions” (policy-induced, institutional, social/cultural norms) that drive gender gaps and impede inclusive growth. - Frictions-based analytical steps: - Step 1: Baseline — traditional macroeconomic, financial, and structural policy discussion. - Identify main gaps and frictions. - Step 2: Analyze how these gaps impact macroeconomic outcomes. - Step 3: Identify policies that reduce frictions, narrow gender gaps, and promote better economic outcomes. ### Policy areas and example interventions (synthesized from Table 1) - Fiscal sector - Rationale: targeted social spending (education, care, infrastructure) can close gender gaps and boost GDP. - Example policies: targeted cash transfers; maternity leave; paid parental leave; public spending on child/elder care, education, health, infrastructure (water and sanitation); improving teacher training and skills; gender budgeting; wage bill policies. - Country examples: Angola, Argentina, Guatemala, Japan, India, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, United States. - Tax and revenue administration - Rationale: tax policy affects women’s income and labor force participation. - Example policies: progressive tax brackets; secondary earner marginal tax rates; tax credits or deductions; equalizing tax rates for labor and capital income; avoid gender-based exemptions; unbiased information for female entrepreneurship. - Country examples: Argentina, Japan, United States, West Bank and Gaza. - Monetary policy - Rationale: low inflation helps poorer segments including women; higher interest rates may lower access to credit for those with fewer assets. - Example policies: compensating measures (training, up-skilling, flexible work arrangements, part-time opportunities, targeted family subsidies, tax incentives); collect sex-disaggregated data. - Financial sector and financial stability - Rationale: limited access to finance reduces entrepreneurship and aggregate productivity; greater inclusion is associated with greater stability (lower non-performing loans). - Example policies: alternative credit verification channels; reduce legal barriers to own accounts; universal official identification; access to digital financial services; direct deposit for government transfers; financial literacy programs; collect sex-disaggregated financial data; regulatory frameworks and interoperability; eliminate biases in staffing; increase representation of women in leadership and bank boards. - Country examples: India, Japan. - Structural policies and legal reform - Rationale: legal reforms remove impediments and incentivize participation. - Example policies: constitutional guarantees of equal treatment; reform property, family, and labor laws; establish equal pay for equal work; address anti-discrimination and sexual harassment. - Country examples: Iran, Jordan, Lao P.D.R., Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, West Bank and Gaza. - Labor market reforms - Rationale: women over-represented in low-paying jobs; minimum wage and social insurance design affect women. - Example policies: publish gender-disaggregated wage and promotion data; moderate minimum-to-median wage ratios; collective bargaining; transparency laws; tailor unemployment insurance to avoid dualism. - Country examples: Iceland, Japan, Sao Tome and Principe, West Bank and Gaza. - Energy and subsidies - Rationale: increases in prices of lighting and cooking fuels can negatively affect women in LIDCs. - Example policies: efficient subsidy policies; targeted transfers; complementary measures such as education. ### Assessing macrocriticality: tools, indicators, and data - Staff tools (accessible only to IMF staff): Gender Data Hub; Macrocritical Indicators Dashboard; Gender Inequality Tool; Financial Access Survey. - Core indicators to inform macrocriticality: - Gender indices: Gender Inequality Index; Gender Development Index. - Legal opportunity: World Bank’s Women, Business, and the Law. - Financial inclusion: IMF’s Financial Access Survey. - Education: enrollment measures and STEM shares as appropriate. - Labor market: female and male labor force participation rates; sectoral and managerial disaggregation where possible (see ILOSTAT). - Leadership: measures of female leadership in policymaking and private sector. - Process guidance: follow principles in the IMF Guidance Note for Surveillance Under Article IV Consultations. ### Surveillance modality: Conversation Starter → Light Touch → Deep Dive - Conversation Starter - Actions: dialogue with authorities; present selected gender indicators; flag data gaps. - Purpose: raise awareness of evidence linking gender gaps to growth, inequality, and resilience. - Sample questions: availability of sex-disaggregated data; identified macrocritical gaps; national gender strategies; key counterparts; existing policies. - Light Touch - Description: from descriptive coverage to deeper analysis within topics; quantify impacts using staff analyses or empirical cross-country work. - Key analytical questions: magnitude of macrocritical gaps; drivers; education and skills differentials; legal barriers; access to finance; health/demographic constraints; prevalence of harmful practices. - Good practices: integrate gender into main policy discussions; quantify gains; early engagement with partners; use nontraditional data sources when necessary. - Country examples: Japan, Morocco, Kiribati, Ethiopia. - Deep Dive - Description: integrated, comprehensive policy discussion linking gender gaps to macroeconomic and financial outcomes; assesses transmission channels and policy impacts. - Tools and models: Table 4 tools and Appendix 2 general equilibrium model referenced for deep dives. ### Covering gender in IMF-supported programs - Principles for conditionality: - Criticality: include gender-related conditionality where measures are under country control and critical to program success. - Parsimony: not all programs should carry gender-related structural benchmarks; gender reforms may be slow-moving. - Ownership: conditionality should integrate into national reform plans and be realistic. - Control and monitoring: ensure main counterparts can implement and data are available for evaluation. - Integration of CD: provide tailored technical assistance to support implementation. - Existing program examples with gender-related conditionality: - Jordan: 2020 EFF — labor law reforms, employer-provided daycare, public transport improvements; structural benchmark on childcare by-laws/instructions. - Niger: 2017 SIP and ECF review included structural benchmark on developing a gender equality strategy; 2023 SIP on closing gender gaps in education. - Pakistan: 2016 SIP; 2019 EFF introduced structural benchmarks on school attendance and financial inclusion. - São Tomé and Príncipe: 2019 ECF included structural benchmark on gender equality strategy and later commitments on gender budgeting and publishing gender-disaggregated statistics. - Other program coverage: Argentina (2018), Egypt (2016) included gender-related MEFP commitments. ### Capacity Development, in-depth analysis, and coordination - CD areas of IMF expertise: data collection and analysis; gender-responsive budgeting and public financial management; taxation; revenue administration; addressing legal barriers. - Delivery channels: Regional Capacity Development Centers (RCDCs); Regional Technical Assistance Centers; collaboration with external partners and resident representatives. - Table 3 highlights recent CD and technical assistance activities across FAD, LEG, STA (2019–2024 entries), including planned online course on gender budgeting (October/November 2024) and FY24 planned activities. ### Synergies with other workstreams - Gender intersects with inclusion, climate, digitalization, and fragile and conflict-affected states. Exploiting synergies: - Reduces duplication and facilitates integrated policy dialogue. - Examples: - Climate: gender-responsive mitigation/adaptation, reskilling and STEM, evidence that gender-balanced leadership improves environmental outcomes (Glass and others, 2015; Altunbas and others, 2021; Mavisakalyan and Tarverdi, 2019). - Digitalization/financial inclusion: women underrepresented in formal and digital financial services; policy levers include technology education and ICT infrastructure. - Fragile states: gender inequality acute; gender-based violence can produce large macroeconomic losses (Ouedraogo and Stenzel, 2021); targeting FLFP can strengthen resilience during post-conflict transitions. ### Staff resources: tools, data, and training - Main staff-access tools and their uses: - Gender Data Hub: standardized macrocritical gender-related data; data visualizations; EcOS database. - Macrocritical Indicators Dashboard: captures gender gaps and missing indicators. - Gender Inequality Tool: compares outcomes, opportunities, and representation. - Financial Inclusion Tool: benchmarks gender gaps in financial access. - Quantification tools: Growth Decomposition Tool; Equity Gains Tool; Child Marriage Tool; Gender Labor Market Tool. - Policy tools: Fuel Subsidy Tool; Gender Budgeting Tool (tracks efforts in more than 100 countries). - Training: - Comprehensive gender-related training launched in FY24. - Two-day course on the Macroeconomics of Gender Inequality developed (December 2023). - Modular online course on gender budgeting planned for FY25 (to be available to IMF staff and the public). ### Macro modeling and simulation findings (model features and selected results) - Model: Dynamic General Equilibrium Life-Cycle Model with Heterogeneous Agents; country-specific; heterogeneity by gender, life stage, labor skills, and access to savings; accounts for formal/informal sector choices, wage discrimination, unpaid care coordination costs. - Niger simulation (equalizing girls’ education with boys): - FLFP expected to increase by 85.6 percent. - Household mean labor income goes up by 8.6 percent. - Overall gender gap in mean labor income (male-to-female ratio) goes down by 53.3 percent. - GDP rises by 11.2 percent. - Aggregate private consumption increases by 3 percent. - Government must increase public education spending by 21.2 percent. - Total government spending rises by 3 percent. - Revenues: taxes on labor income grow by 15.3 percent; taxes on corporate income grow by 16.2 percent; consumption taxes grow by 3 percent; total tax revenue increases by 11.3 percent. - Fiscal balance: increased revenues imply a 9.3 percent reduction in the primary deficit. - Applications of the model: simulations listed for Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone (education); Argentina and Senegal (cash transfers); Iran, Lao P.D.R., Nigeria (eliminating workplace bias); United States (paid maternity leave, subsidized childcare); Senegal (infrastructure); Argentina, United States (tax policies); Egypt (reducing legal barriers). ### Selected empirical results (from Appendix III) - Decreasing gender inequality index by 1 (scale 0 to 1) increases per capita GDP growth rate by 2 percentage points (78 countries). - Decreasing the legal inequality index by 1 (scale 0 to 6) increases growth by 0.296 percentage points (78 countries). - FLFP scenarios: - When initial FLFP is 25 percent and elasticity of substitution is 0.75, closing LFP gender gaps increases GDP by 80 percent. - When initial FLFP is 60 percent and elasticity is 2, closing LFP gender gaps increases GDP by 10 percent. - Financial inclusion: a one percentage point increase of females who borrow from and have an account at a financial institution reduces the magnitude of the income inequality index by approximately 0.3 and 0.1, respectively. - Industry growth: an industry with a higher share of females (75th percentile versus 25th) grows value-added 1.7 percentage points faster in a country with lower gender inequality. - Violence and activity: a 1 percentage point increase in the share of women subject to violence can reduce night-light based economic activities by up to 8.7 percent due to a 2.5 percentage points drop in female employment. - Canada example: a 1 percentage point increase in labor force participation among women with high educational attainment would raise Canada’s overall labor productivity growth by 0.2 to 0.3 percentage point a year, resulting in an increase of real GDP by 4 percent. - Women’s employment cyclicality: women’s employment is less sensitive to the business cycle than men’s; specific unemployment gap responses per 1 percentage point rise in the output gap provided by AEs and EMDEs. ### Processes, targets, and country engagement - Area Departments to commit to covering gender for a set of countries; SPR and the Gender Working Group (GWG) to support identification based on macrocriticality. - The strategy sets specific, quantifiable targets each fiscal year for numbers of light touches and deep dives, with flexibility for country selection. - Early engagement with SPR recommended to identify partners, research, and data sources. - Suggested interlocutors: ministries of finance and central banks; institutes of statistics; ministries of gender, labor, infrastructure, health; development partners; civil society organizations. - Reports should integrate gender reforms into the policy mix dynamically, considering cyclical position and macroeconomic policy space. ### External collaboration and outreach - Deepen collaboration with partners: World Bank Group, UN Women, bilateral partners (including EU and FCDO), CSOs, think tanks, academics, trade unions, foundations. - Two external advisory groups on gender (academics and CSOs) regularly meet with staff. - SPR and the Communications Department can assist country teams on engagement and dissemination. *Source: ppea2024003 - EXECUTIVE SUMMARY and selected sections (Interim Guidance Note on Gender Mainstreaming), December 6, 2023.* ### EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ### EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ### Introduction and purpose - The 2022 IMF Strategy Toward Mainstreaming Gender calls for a gradual, systematic integration of gender considerations into the IMF’s core work of surveillance, lending, and capacity development (CD). - Gender-disaggregated analysis is expected to provide a more granular perspective on macroeconomic, financial, and structural policies, enhancing the quality of advice and engagement with member countries. - This interim guidance note offers initial operational guidance to staff and will be expanded into a full guidance note planned for FY26. - Date on document: December 6, 2023. ### Rationale: why integrate gender into IMF work - Closing gender gaps can fundamentally drive stronger, more inclusive, and sustainable growth in an environment of low medium-term growth. - Key channels and empirical points cited: - The global median rate of female labor force participation is about 15 percentage points lower than the male rate. - For OECD countries, the gender wage gap was estimated at 11.6 percentage points in 2020. - Women hold 26.5 percent of seats in parliament and 22 percent of ministerial-level positions on average globally. - Globally, only 22 central bank governors are female (OMFIF, 2023). - Women accounted for 5 percent of Chief Executive Officers of commercial banks as of end–2022 (Čihák and Sahay, 2023). - Women’s unpaid work can be large: Bridgman and others (2018) estimate unpaid work accounts for some 35 percent of GDP on average in their sample, ranging from 10 percent of GDP in Korea to 60 percent of GDP in Albania (Alonso and others, 2019). - Conservative model-based estimates suggest that policies to reduce and redistribute unpaid work across gender could amount to up to 4 percent of GDP (Alonso and others, 2019). - Globally, almost one in three women ages 15 years or older in 2018 had experienced either intimate partner violence or non-intimate partner sexual violence at least once in their lifetime (WHO, 2021). - Evidence from sub-Saharan Africa shows increasing the share of women subjected to violence by one percentage point can reduce economic activity by up to 8 percent (Ouedraogo and Stenzel, 2021). - In emerging markets, one fifth of girls are married before the age of 18; eliminating child marriage would raise long term annual per capita real GDP growth in emerging markets by more than 1 percentage point (Mitra and others, 2020). - During recovery from COVID-19, four out of five jobs created in 2022 for women were informal (versus two of three for men) (ILO 2023). - Model-based simulations and comparative exercises: - Reducing gender gaps in line with the average decrease seen in the top 5 percent best performing countries during 2014-19 could yield an average GDP gain of 7.7 percent. - Closing gender gaps in labor force participation in 128 emerging and developing economies could yield a GDP gain of 23 percent on average, provided frictions (such as financial barriers and informality) are addressed. ### Operational guidance: core principles and scope - The note links dimensions of gender inequality to macroeconomic outcomes and defines guiding principles for coverage of gender in country documents, including: - Macrocriticality (taking into account different standards for surveillance, lending, and capacity development). - Evenhandedness (principle of uniformity of treatment). - Staff are to deepen understanding over time with flexibility to incorporate lessons learned; work will progress from lighter coverage to more in-depth analysis as capacity and experience grow. ### Key topics and practical directions for staff - Identifying and assessing macrocritical gender gaps and designing fiscal, monetary, financial, and structural policies to address these inequalities; discussion of “light touch” versus “deep dive” approaches to gender analysis. - Garnering early insights into integrating gender in IMF-supported programs. - Providing gender-focused CD on areas such as taxation, gender-responsive budgeting, data collection, revenue administration, and legal barriers. - Linking gender with climate, digitalization, and fragile and conflict-affected states to explore synergies. - Listing and leveraging available resources: relevant analytical papers and staff reports, toolkits, datasets, and training courses. - Fostering external collaboration to support more tailored, granular policy advice. - Addressing gender issues while remaining cognizant of cultural sensitivities and social norms. ### Coverage expectations and modalities - The interim note defines expected depth and breadth of gender work in bilateral surveillance and offers initial considerations for programs and CD. - Approaches are framed around assessing macrocriticality and choosing appropriate modalities (light touches versus deep dives) depending on the country context and identified frictions. ### Next steps and timeline - A full guidance note will be prepared by FY26 and will incorporate lessons learned and expand on best practices. ### Project team and approvals - Approved by Ceyla Pazarbasioglu (SPR). - Prepared by a team led by Monique Newiak and Lisa Kolovich comprising Diego Gomes and Jiajia Gu under the guidance of Rishi Goyal and Stefania Fabrizio. - Inputs provided by the Gender Working Group and colleagues across COM, FAD, ICD, LEG, MCM, and STA. - Research and administrative support from Naomi Rose Alexander, Sahar Priano, and Deise Miller Passos da Silva. *Source: ppea2024003 - EXECUTIVE SUMMARY (Interim Guidance Note on Gender Mainstreaming), December 6, 2023.* ### 10. With medium-term global growth prospects at their lowest levels in decades, new ### 10. With medium-term global growth prospects at their lowest levels in decades, new engines of growth and poverty alleviation are needed. Closing gender gaps is not only a matter of inclusion and equity but is fundamentally a matter of growth and sustainability, particularly in the current low-growth environment. Now more than ever, it is imperative to include gender as part of the path for stronger, more inclusive, and sustainable growth. ### B. Framework for Macrocritical Gender Issues: A Frictions-Based Approach — purpose and implementation stages - Goal: move to policy advice that is informed and intentional in fostering macroeconomic stability and inclusive growth also through closing macrocritical gender gaps (para. 11). - Vision (IMF gender mainstreaming strategy): teams assess how macrocritical gender gaps impact macroeconomic and financial outcomes and examine how shocks, fiscal/monetary/financial policies, and structural reforms have differentiated impacts by gender; perform impact analyses to unveil transmission channels and quantify uneven effects (para. 11). - Implementation approach: initial stages focus on feasible intermediate stages of depth and scope while Fund capacity and expertise are ramped up (para. 11; footnote 16). ### Frictions-based integration into IMF policy dialogue and surveillance - Start from IMF’s traditional macroeconomic, financial, and structural policy dialogue (“Baseline”) and integrate gender by recognizing that gender gaps impede inclusive growth and macroeconomic stability and are driven by barriers or “frictions” (para. 12). - Types of frictions: policy-induced (e.g., discriminatory tax codes), institutional (e.g., differences in legal rights), social/cultural norms (e.g., attitudes towards women working) (para. 12). - Identification: staff should identify macrocritical gender gaps leveraging available internal guidance (para. 12). - Coverage under surveillance: In line with the Integrated Surveillance Decision, the Fund can cover gender-related policies when they significantly influence present or prospective balance of payments and domestic stability. Monetary, fiscal, and financial sector policies are always to be covered and should therefore be discussed in bilateral surveillance where related to gender outcomes/women’s economic empowerment (footnote 15, para. 12). - Article IV context: gender policies outside the scope of bilateral surveillance may be discussed in an Article IV Consultation with the consent of the country concerned; policy advice in that context would constitute technical assistance under Article V, Section 2(b) rather than bilateral surveillance under Article IV, Section 1 (footnote 15). ### Frictions-based analytical steps (Figure 2 referenced) - Step 1: Baseline — traditional macroeconomic, financial, and structural policy discussion. - Red circle: identify main gaps and frictions (para. 12). - Step 2: Analyze how these gaps impact macroeconomic outcomes (para. 12). - Step 3: Identify policies that reduce frictions, narrow gender gaps, and promote better economic outcomes (para. 13). ### Policy identification and examples (Table 1 synthesis) - General principle: based on analysis of links between gender and macro outcomes, identify policies to reduce frictions and narrow gender gaps (para. 13). - Fiscal sector - Rationale: unequal access to education and healthcare can be addressed through targeted social spending; public spending on education, care, infrastructure can close gender gaps and boost GDP (para. 13; Table 1). - Example policies: targeted cash transfers; maternity leave; paid parental leave; public spending on child/elder care, education, health, infrastructure (water and sanitation); improving teacher training and skills; gender budgeting; wage bill policies considering both compensation and employment gaps (Table 1). - Country examples in Table 1: Angola, Argentina, Guatemala, Japan, India, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, United States (Table 1). - Tax and revenue administration - Rationale: tax policy can impact women’s income and labor force participation and can mitigate or magnify gender gaps (Table 1). - Example policies: progressive tax brackets; secondary earner marginal tax rates; tax credits or deductions; consumption tax rates; equalizing tax rates for labor and capital income; avoid gender-based exemptions in revenue administration; provide unbiased information to support female entrepreneurship and employment (Table 1). - Country examples in Table 1: Argentina, Japan, United States, West Bank and Gaza; supporting references on revenue administration and gender (Table 1; footnote 19). - Monetary policy - Rationale: low inflation helps poorer segments including women; higher interest rates may lower access to credit for those with fewer assets and lower income, often including women (Table 1). - Example policies: universally applied targeted compensating measures (training, up-skilling, flexible work arrangements, part-time opportunities, targeted family subsidies, tax incentives); collect and analyze sex-disaggregated data (Table 1). - Financial sector and financial stability - Rationale: women’s limited access to finance reduces entrepreneurship and aggregate productivity; greater inclusion of women as users, providers, and regulators is associated with greater stability (lower non-performing loans) (Table 1). - Example policies: build alternative credit verification channels; reduce legal barriers for women to own accounts; universality of official identification systems; access to digital financial services; direct deposit for government transfers; financial literacy programs; collect sex-disaggregated financial data; set regulatory frameworks and interoperability; eliminate biases in staffing; increase representation of women in leadership and bank boards (Table 1). - Country examples: India, Japan (financial inclusion); references: “Fintech, Female Employment, and Gender Inequality”; “What is Driving Women’s Financial Inclusion Across Countries?”; “Women in Fintech: As Leaders and Users”; “Women in Finance: A Case for Closing Gaps” (Table 1). - Structural policies and legal reform - Rationale: legal reforms can remove impediments and incentivize women to increase participation (Table 1). - Example policies: constitutional guarantees of equal treatment; address inequities in property, family, and labor laws; establish equal pay for equal work; address anti-discrimination and sexual harassment at work (Table 1). - Country examples: Iran, Jordan, Lao P.D.R., Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, West Bank and Gaza (Table 1). - Labor market reforms - Rationale: women over-represented in low-paying jobs; changes in minimum wage can significantly impact low-wage workers, including less educated women; collective bargaining and unemployment insurance design matter for women (Table 1). - Example policies: publish gender-disaggregated data on wages and promotions; moderate minimum-to-median wage ratios; collective bargaining contracts; transparency laws; tailor unemployment insurance to avoid fostering labor market dualism (Table 1). - Country examples: Iceland, Japan, Sao Tome and Principe, West Bank and Gaza (Table 1). - Energy and subsidies - Rationale: increases in prices of lighting and cooking fuels can negatively affect women in LIDCs (Table 1). - Example policies: efficient subsidy policies; targeted transfers; other measures to reduce female poverty such as education (Table 1). ### Country specificity, feasibility, and political economy considerations - Policies must be tailored to country-specific circumstances and implementation capacity; effectiveness varies by economic and social features (para. 14). - Examples: - Low-income countries: public spending on infrastructure (water/sanitation, energy, digital services) can reduce unpaid care work and support women’s employment (para. 14). - Maternity leave and paid parental leave could boost female labor force participation but may not be feasible with constrained fiscal space or high informality (para. 14). - Political economy: potential impediments by women and governing bodies in advancing gender reforms can interact with implementation and effectiveness (para. 14). ### Balancing macroeconomic stability and gender-equality goals - Aim: determine whether macroeconomic policy recommendations may have gender-unbalanced impacts; design policy packages in a balanced manner (para. 15). - Example: fiscal consolidation measures (eliminating fuel subsidies, cutting recurrent public expenditures such as the wage bill, downsizing public sector, reforming taxation) can have different impacts across genders and lead to adverse distributional effects (para. 15). - Where adverse distributional impacts exist, consider alternative policies and mitigating measures to reduce the fiscal deficit while offsetting unintended adverse outcomes (para. 15). - Guiding evidence: literature on gender-differentiated impact of macroeconomic and financial policies should inform initial assessments (para. 15; footnote 19). - Specific illustration from literature: removing tax provisions that discriminate against secondary earners would have a very significant positive impact on female labor force participation and economic growth, at no fiscal cost in the long run; could increase progressivity and reduce inequality and poverty but may negatively impact some married, single-earner households (footnote 20). ### C. Approaches to Assessing Macrocriticality — tools and indicators - Staff tools: Gender Data Hub and Macrocritical Indicators Dashboard (accessible only to IMF staff) allow examination of gender gaps, benchmarking, and quantifying macroeconomic costs associated with gender gaps (para. 16). - Use of external reports: reports from counterparts such as the World Bank are valuable sources on gender issues (para. 16). - Core indicators to inform assessments of macrocriticality (paras. 17): - Gender inequality indices: Gender Inequality Index or Gender Development Index provide first overviews of gender inequality (para. 17). - Legal opportunity indicators: World Bank’s Women, Business, and the Law annual report and database (legal inequality trends across 190 countries) (para. 17). - Financial inclusion: IMF’s Financial Access Survey provides granular, gender-disaggregated information (para. 17). - Education gaps: enrollment in STEM may be appropriate for advanced countries; gender gaps in primary/secondary enrollment or literacy rates for EMDEs; harmful traditional practices (e.g., child marriage) highlighted as constraints in developing economies (para. 17). - Labor market: female and male labor force participation rates (available for most countries); complement with gender gaps by sector, managerial status, and informal employment where possible (see ILOSTAT) (para. 17). - Leadership: indicators on female leadership in policymaking and the private sector complement the gender-equality picture (para. 17). - Process guidance: assessment should be guided by principles and practices in the IMF Guidance Note for Surveillance Under Article IV Consultations (para. 16). *Source: IMF staff (GENDER MAINSTREAMING: INTERIM GUIDANCE NOTE).* ### Section V.C in the IMF Guidance Note for Surveillance Under Article IV Consultations (Surveillance Note) offers a ### Section V.C — Coverage of Gender in Surveillance under Article IV Consultations ### Overview - Section V.C offers a broad overview of gender issues in surveillance and provides interim guidance to help country teams implement “light touch” and “deep dive” coverage where gender gaps are macrocritical. - The guidance is intended as a step-by-step approach for country teams, with progression from initial conversations to light-touch analysis to comprehensive deep dives. ### Selected Gender Gaps (Table 2) - Table 2 provides a non-exhaustive list of key indicators country teams could consider when assessing and analyzing gender gaps. - Gender indices (examples): - Gender Development Index (source: UNDP) - Global Gender Gap Index (source: World Economic Forum, dataset provided by World Bank) - Gender Inequality Index (source: UNDP) - Indicators capturing individual dimensions of gender inequality (Opportunity; Outcomes and Representation): - Legal Barriers - Women Business and the Law Index - Education - Gross enrollment rates (at primary, secondary, and tertiary levels) - Mean years of schooling - Literacy rate (ages 15 and above) - Share of women in science, technology, engineering and mathematics - Access to Finance - Percentage of adults who borrowed from a financial institution - Percentage of adults who own a financial institution account - Number of loan accounts /deposit accounts with commercial banks per 1000 adults - Health - Maternal mortality ratio - Fertility rate - Adolescent fertility rate - Life expectancy - Proportion of women experiencing intimate partner violence - Economic Activity and Income - Labor force participation rates - Employment-to-population ratio - Proportion of men and women in vulnerable employment - Share of men and women in agriculture, manufacturing, services - Time spent on work, household chores etc. (through time use surveys) - Informal, part-time, and temporary employment rates - Unemployment rate - Wage gaps - Wealth gaps - Representation - Proportion of seats held by women in local government - Proportion of women in the national parliament - Proportion of women in managerial positions - Proportion of women on boards of financial institutions ### Assessing Macrocriticality and Country Specifics - The macrocriticality of gender gaps depends on country-specific circumstances and may require further disaggregation. - Staff guidance on focus by country type: - Advanced economies: inequality in outcomes and representation tend to be more constraining. - Emerging markets and developing economies: inequalities in opportunity may be more prevalent. - Legal rights inequalities can occur across all income groups and drive other gender gaps. - Country-specific challenges and examples: - Rapidly aging populations: shrinking workforce, elderly care, need to increase female labor force participation. - High population growth: need to create high quality jobs, build human capital. - Fragile and conflict-affected states: gender equality may be an underlying source of fragility (e.g., gender-based violence) and fragility/conflict may exacerbate gender gaps. - Growth-friendly structural change: analysis should include obstacles in accessing finance by gender and the impact of education and employment gaps on macroeconomic and financial outcomes. - Further disaggregation may be needed even when aggregate gender gaps appear narrow (e.g., gender-differentiated credit terms, average loan amounts, gaps in higher education fields, quality/sector/vulnerability of employment). - Additional criteria for whether to cover gender: country’s stage of development, position in business cycle, data availability, immediate competing priorities, interest from the authorities, implementation capacity and policy priorities. - Scope and collaboration: - IMF coverage limited to areas within IMF expertise (key macroeconomic and financial policies). - Bring external expertise when gender gaps are macrocritical but outside IMF expertise (e.g., designing education systems, tailored solutions for gender-based violence). - Collaboration with other institutions is key in such circumstances. ### Light Touches and Deep Dives — Taxonomy and Steps - The IMF Strategy Toward Mainstreaming Gender introduced “light touches” and “deep dives” as a continuum for integrating macrocritical gender issues into surveillance. - Progression: - Conversation Starter → Light Touch → Deep Dive - Initial phase: most country coverage likely to consist of light touches, evolving toward deep dives as tools and knowledge are built. Conversation Starter - First-stage actions and options: - Dialogue with authorities (ministry of finance, central bank) on key macrocritical gender indicators: legal barriers, labor market participation, education, health, financial access, entrepreneurship, representation in leadership. - Options for presenting indicators: separate selected gender indicators table or adding to the Selected Economic Indicators Table, with discussion in the staff report. - Flag data gaps and missing data in the country report. - Purpose: - Raise awareness of cross-country empirical evidence linking lower gender gaps with higher economic growth, lower income inequality, and greater economic and financial resilience. - Sample Conversation Starter Questions (Box 1): - Are gender-disaggregated data available? - Key indicators: e.g., female labor force participation, employment, wages, part time/full time, formal/informal work, education, health, financial access, entrepreneurship, legal rights to economic opportunities, female leadership in official and private sectors. - What are the reasons for missing data? If data exist but are not published, could they be shared with Fund staff? - Have the authorities identified macrocritical gender gaps? If so, what are they? - What are the possible links through which gender gaps could impact the economy (growth, income inequality, stability)? - What are the main barriers driving gender gaps? - Is there a national gender strategy and/or a gender policy or other document that outlines gender equality priorities and goals? - Who are key counterparts within the ministry of finance, the central bank, tax authority or statistical institute who are working on gender-related issues and how do they work with other agencies? - What policies are in place to address gender disparities? Examples include gender-responsive budgeting, tax/expenditure measures, legal reforms, financial inclusion, labor market reforms. - If no policies are in place, are the authorities open to discussing with the teams on priority interventions, given that Fund membership has endorsed the gender mainstreaming strategy? - Which development partners are working on these issues? How could their work be leveraged going forward? Which partners should the IMF work with to have the greatest impact? Light Touch - Description: - Range from broad descriptive coverage across sectors to deeper coverage within one or more topics. - Could be basic descriptive statistics of gender gaps or deeper analysis of drivers in labor market, financial sector, or representation, and policy recommendations. - Important to examine macroeconomic and financial stability impacts of gender gaps using staff analyses or existing empirical cross-country work. - Light Touch Questions (Box 2): - How large are macrocritical gender gaps (e.g., LFP, employment, financial access, entrepreneurship, representation in senior positions)? - Are these gaps impacting productivity/growth? Through which channels? - What is driving these gaps? - What do education outcomes for girls look like compared to boys? - Are there gender differences in skill mismatches? - Are there laws on economic opportunity that treat men and women differently? - Are existing laws related to gender equality being implemented? If not, what are the hindrances? - Is access to finance the same for men and women? If not, what is preventing equal access (collateral, legal rights, access to digital and physical infrastructure, cultural norms, any others)? - Are there health/demographic statistics that point to barriers to women and girls’ economic empowerment (e.g., adolescent fertility, population growth)? - Are harmful traditional practices (e.g., child marriage) and violence against women prevalent and do they contribute to these gaps? - How do these gaps impact macroeconomic, financial and development outcomes? - What policies are in place to address these issues? Examples include: - Fiscal: Gender budgeting, gender-responsive fiscal policies - Financial: Gender in financial inclusion strategy, collateral, infrastructure, leadership - Structural: Legal barriers, property rights, product/labor market polices - External: How does gender equality impact export diversification/competitiveness? Good Practices from Light-Touch Analysis (Box 3) - Key emerging practices: - Integration: Integrate gender considerations into overall policy discussion and related reports rather than treating them as stand-alone items. - Evidence: Quantify gains from closing gender gaps to support evidence-based conversations; draw upon existing analytical tools (accessible only to IMF staff) to estimate gains, feeding into alternative or active scenarios for macro frameworks. - Early engagement: Helps identify policy priorities and transmission channels; facilitates knowledge sharing with external partners. - Repeated dialogue: Monitor trends, inquire and report on implementation of previously recommended policies, and discuss new programs/policies. - Working around limited data: Use nontraditional sources, proxy measures, qualitative evidence, and external partners; encourage authorities to collect and publish gender-disaggregated data. - External collaboration: Broadens evidence base, saves resources, and widens outreach. - Awareness of context: Raise gender issues while being cognizant of cultural sensitivities and social norms/practices. - Country examples summarized in Box 3: - Japan: Integration of gender issues in economic policy recommendations; attention to STEM under-representation and work-style reforms. - Morocco: Quantified growth losses from gender gaps in a 2017 Selected Issues Paper; sustained follow-up and quantification in 2022 Article IV Staff Report. - Kiribati: Used proxy measures, survey data, and peer estimates to construct Gender Inequality Index and conduct growth decomposition under data constraints. - Ethiopia: IMF co-authored a working paper with UN Women, followed by a workshop and subsequent requests for tailored technical assistance on gender budgeting. Deep Dive - Description: - Deep dive coverage is an integrated and comprehensive policy discussion of macrocritical gender gaps. - Involves explicit links between gender gaps and key macroeconomic and financial outcomes, assessment of the impact of policies, shocks, and trends on gender gaps. - Deep dives report on existing macrocritical gender gaps, explain why they are macrocritical by discussing transmission channels to growth and economic and financial stability, and highlight how gender issues fit in the overall macroeconomic context. - Tools and models: - Table 4 lists tools available to staff. - Appendix 2 describes the general equilibrium model used in several deep dives. *Source: ppea2024003 - Section V.C in the IMF Guidance Note for Surveillance Under Article IV Consultations (Surveillance Note)* ### Box 4. Deep Dive Questions ### Box 4. Deep Dive Questions ### Key deep-dive questions on gender and macroeconomics - Questions discussed in Box 1 and 2 (conversation starter and light touches) remain relevant. - How are gender gaps linked to country-specific macroeconomic and financial outcomes? - To what extent do country-specific gender gaps lead to lower economic growth, higher inequality, or lower economic resilience? - Can increasing female labor force participation (FLFP) mitigate the impact of population aging on GDP per capita and pension/social system stability? - Is rapidly declining fertility related to lack of opportunities or support (e.g., in care work) for women? - How do gender gaps in education and health affect human capital accumulation, fertility, and productivity? How do gender gaps contribute to structural change? How can encouraging FLFP help specific sectors thrive? Are there any skills gaps to address? - How do gender gaps contribute to informality? Lower aggregate productivity? - How could closing gender gaps improve financial sector stability? - How can addressing women’s fragility or conflict-related grievances help in strengthening resilience? - How do shocks and trends impact gender gaps? - Is there a gendered impact of the economic downturn/recession? - What has been the scarring impact of COVID-19 crisis on preexisting gender gaps? - How are women disproportionately impacted by fragility and conflict? - Does rising inflation affect women, female-headed households differently? - How do food and energy shocks affect gender gaps? - How does a financial and balance-of-payments (BOP) crisis affect gender gaps? - How have climate change and other long-term trends such as automation and digitalization affected women differentially? - What is the distributional impact of macroeconomic and structural policies or legal reforms on gender? - Which are the gender gaps to be impacted by policies and/or legal reforms (e.g., FLFP and wage gaps through childcare, transport, tax policy, laws; education and health outcomes through sanitation, access to water, electricity; financial access through collateral, legal rights, digital and physical infrastructure)? - How do different measures of domestic revenue mobilization impact gender gaps (e.g., individual vs. family taxation, deductions for childcare)? - Are public expenditures contributing to closing gender gaps (e.g., impact of different types of infrastructure investment; education and health spending)? - Under what circumstances might fiscal consolidation widen gaps? How can these effects be mitigated? - Are tax administration measures conducive to help female entrepreneurship? - How do revenue administration (RA) agencies reflect gender impacts in their operational decisions? - How do RA agencies’ compliance management activities reflect needs of female taxpayers and traders? - Is monetary policy affecting women differentially? If yes, public policy compensating measures? - What are the differential impacts of labor market policies (e.g., increase in minimum wage, hiring and firing policies, social security), product market policies, and legal reforms? - How do financial sector and related policies impact gender gaps? - Does the current regulatory environment affect women differently? - Are there differential financial sector (banks, non-banks, fintech companies) practices in hiring, firing, retaining women? In providing access to finance to women? - How do legal rights (e.g., inheritance, property rights) impact women’s ability to access credit? - How does addressing information asymmetry (e.g., credit registries) or changes in collateral requirements impact women differently? - How would a gender lens in reform design affect the impact of reform efforts? ### Processes and support for integrating gender (paras. 27–30) - Area Departments will regularly commit to cover gender for a set of countries. The Strategy Policy and Review Department (SPR) and the interdepartmental Gender Working Group (GWG) can support Area Departments in identifying countries based on the macrocriticality of gender among countries in each department. - The strategy sets specific, quantifiable targets for each fiscal year on the expected number of light touches and deep dives to be covered by IMF staff, with flexibility for country selection based on macrocriticality. Shocks, crises, or unexpected developments may prompt choosing an alternative country in consultation with SPR. Country teams interested in brainstorming should reach out to SPR. - Early engagement with SPR allows identification of relevant external partners, existing research, and data sources to reduce time and resource burdens and to ensure gender is integrated into the main policy discussion rather than treated as standalone. - Discussions on macrocritical gender issues should be held with ministries of finance and central banks and ministries that deal directly with gender issues, plus institutes of statistics; ministries of gender, labor, infrastructure, or health; partner organizations; and civil society organizations (CSOs). Country teams should consider meeting with development partners or CSOs ahead of missions. - Granular and tailored advice on gender should be integrated in the policy mix dynamically, considering countries’ cyclical position and available macroeconomic policy space. Reports should integrate and prioritize gender reforms that can, for example, boost demand when the output gap is negative, and boost medium-term supply (e.g., increased fiscal spending on childcare, education), or carefully consider fiscal implications when fiscal space is limited. ### Covering gender in IMF programs (paras. 31–33 and Box 5) - General principles for conditionality apply to gender: conditionality is based on criticality for the success of the program and parsimony. - If narrowing gender gaps and supporting women’s economic empowerment is critical to program objectives or monitoring, these issues can be addressed through program design and conditionality to the extent measures are in the country’s control. - Staff are encouraged to integrate gender into traditional conditionality by designing it with attention to potential distributional impacts on gender. - Box 5: Few IMF-supported programs so far have covered gender or gender-related conditionality; existing examples summarized: - Fund-Supported Programs with Gender-Related Conditionality - Jordan: 2020 Extended Fund Facility (EFF) arrangement — commitments to labor law reforms to increase female labor force participation by lifting working hour restrictions, mandating employer-provided daycare, and improving public transportation. A structural benchmark on issuing by-laws and/or issuing instructions aimed at increasing access to affordable childcare was included. - Niger: 2017 Selected Issues Paper (SIP) pointed to gender inequality as a cause of significant growth losses and poverty; authorities agreed to include a structural benchmark on developing a gender equality strategy during the first review of the Extended Credit Facility (ECF)-supported program. In 2023, the country team published another SIP examining macroeconomic and distributional impacts of closing gender gaps in education. - Pakistan: 2016 SIP on female labor force participation and growth impacts; the 2019 extended arrangement under the EFF introduced three structural benchmarks to address gender gaps in school attendance and financial inclusion. - São Tomé and Príncipe: 2019 ECF-supported program included a structural benchmark on developing a national gender equality strategy; collaboration secured external funding and experts to formulate a strategy completed on time; second review included an MEFP commitment to introduce a gender budgeting pilot and publish gender-disaggregated statistics on wages and managerial positions. - Other Coverage of Gender in Programs - Argentina: 2018 Stand-by Arrangement request — staff analyzed impacts of gender inequality in labor force participation; authorities outlined MEFP commitments including tax policy reforms, promoting equal pay, developing more equal paternity and maternity leave, publishing gender-disaggregated data, and reducing gender-based violence. - Egypt: 2016 EFF MEFP — commitments to improving FLFP by increasing availability and quality of pre-school childcare and improving public transport safety. - Principles when considering gender-related conditionality: - Criticality: gender-related conditionality may be included where measures are under country control and critical to program goals (Guidelines on Conditionality, ¶ 6–8 and 11(d)(ii)). - Parsimony: not all programs should have structural benchmarks or quantitative targets on gender; gender equality is often slow-moving and may not fit program timelines, but programs can set the stage for narrowing macrocritical gaps. - Ownership: responsibility to formulate and carry out program policies lies with country officials; conditionality should integrate into national reform plans and be realistic given institutional and political capacity. - Tailoring and evenhandedness: similar circumstances should be treated similarly with country-specific judgment. - Control: ensure gender conditionality is under control of main counterparts (Ministry of Finance or Central Bank). - Monitoring: ensure data availability for evaluating gender-related conditionality. - Integration of CD: capacity development and tailored technical assistance can support implementation of gender-related reforms. ### In-depth analysis, coordination, and capacity development (paras. 33–36 and Table 3 summary) - In-depth analysis and internal and external coordination can maximize impact and help avoid unintended consequences of proposed reforms. Conditionality should be supported by in-depth analysis as part of bilateral surveillance engagement. Staff should adopt a systematic approach when integrating gender in a program context and consult experts and stakeholders (development partners, CSOs) to identify barriers and avoid unintended consequences. - Capacity Development (CD) overview: - The IMF can provide technical assistance and training to support implementation of macrocritical gender-related reforms, especially where it assists with surveillance recommendations or helps members implement conditionality under IMF-supported programs. - Examples of CD areas where the IMF has developed expertise: - Data: Strengthening data collection and analysis to understand and address gender-related economic disparities. - Gender-responsive budgeting and public financial management (PFM): Integrating gender into budgetary processes; applying a gender perspective to fiscal policies and the budget process; enhancing PFM systems for gender-responsive budget execution. - Taxation: Advising on designing gender-responsive tax policies across labor, capital, wealth, personal income, and consumption taxes. - Revenue administration: Applying a gender lens to tax or trade law administration to reduce barriers to women's employment, entrepreneurship, and trade; developing gender-balanced and inclusive workforces with equal employment policies and procedures. - Legal barriers: Addressing legal issues when designing fiscal and tax measures to address gender inequality; implementing reforms to promote women’s economic empowerment. - Regional Capacity Development Centers (RCDCs) and Regional Technical Assistance Centers play an essential role in delivering CD, convening discussions, and enabling peer learning. - Collaboration with external development partners and resident representative offices can avoid duplication, provide consistent advice, and phase reforms; timely sharing of TA reports or data can aid pre-mission analytical work. - Table 3: Recent Capacity Development and Technical Assistance Efforts (high-level entries preserved) - Department: FAD; Topic: Gender Budgeting 1/; Description: CD and institutional strengthening; Countries Covered: Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Cameroon, Costa Rica, Egypt, Ethiopia, Liberia, Panama, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Togo, The Gambia, Turks and Caicos; Date: 2019-2023 - Department: FAD; Topic: Gender Budgeting 1/; Description: Workshops; Countries Covered: Approximately 120 countries including at Africa Training Institute; AFRITAC-East; AFRITAC-West; Regional Technical Assistance Center for Central America, Panama and the Dominican Republic; Pacific Technical Assistance Center; Singapore Regional Training Institute; Caucasus, Central Asia, and Mongolia Regional Capacity Development Center; Date: 2021-2023 - Department: FAD; Topic: Gender Budgeting; Description: Online course; Countries Covered: Broad country coverage; Date: October/November 2024 (Planned) - Department: FAD; Topic: Gender Budgeting; Description: Gender budgeting assessment framework; Countries Covered: Broad country coverage; Date: October/November 2024 (Planned) - Department: FAD; Topic: Gender Budgeting; Description: How-to Notes on gender budgeting tools; Countries Covered: Broad country coverage; Date: Ongoing - Department: LEG; Topic: Legal barriers; Description: Legal reforms for women's economic empowerment; Countries Covered: Singapore Regional Training Institute, Africa Training Institute; Date: (not specified) - Department: STA; Topic: Data Collection/Usage; Description: Workshops, focusing on Financial Access Survey; Countries Covered: APD region; WHD region; Caucasus, Central Asia, and Mongolia Regional Capacity Development Center; Date: June 2022; February 2023; November 2023; February 2024 - Department: STA; Topic: Compiling Gender Indicators; Description: Selecting macro-critical gender related indicators; Countries Covered: West African Monetary Union Members; Date: September 2023 - Department: STA; Topic: Data Analysis; Description: Measuring contribution to GDP of informal activity by gender; Countries Covered: Sierra Leone; Date: (not specified) - Department: STA; Topic: Data Collection; Description: Financial Access Survey pilot data collection; Countries Covered: Broad country coverage; Date: FY24 (Planned) - Department: STA; Topic: Compiling Gender Statistics; Description: Webinar for national statistical offices; Countries Covered: Regional Technical Assistance Center for Central America, Panama and the Dominican Republic; Date: FY24 (Planned) ### Synergies with other workstreams - There are extensive synergies between gender and other emerging macroeconomic issues, such as inclusion, climate change, digitalization, and fragile and conflict-affected states. Staff are encouraged to exploit these synergies to advise member countries more effectively. *GENDER MAINSTREAMING: INTERIM GUIDANCE NOTE — Box 4. Deep Dive Questions (extracted content)* ### 37. The Guidance Note for Surveillance Under Article IV Consultations recommends ### ppea2024003 - 37. The Guidance Note for Surveillance Under Article IV Consultations recommends ### Synergies between gender and emerging workstreams - The Guidance Note recommends exploring synergies between gender disparities and other emerging workstreams such as climate, digitalization, and fragile and conflict-affected states to facilitate a more efficient dialogue with country authorities. - Exploiting synergies: - Reduces risk of duplication where staff cover several emerging topics. - Facilitates integrated policy dialogue with country authorities. ### Links between gender and inclusion, climate, digitalization, and fragility/conflict - Gender and inclusion - Income inequality and gender-related inequality can interact through several channels (Gonzales and others 2015b). - Gender wage gaps directly contribute to income inequality. - Higher gaps in labor force participation rates between men and women and subsequent differences in income, including through pensions at old age, result in gender earning inequality exacerbating income inequality. - Current models applied to examine the macroeconomic impact of gender equality (Appendix 2) allow analysis of the income distribution; country teams have regularly reported on the impact of proposed scenarios on income inequality. - Climate change - Climate change disproportionately impacts women and girls; women can play a significant role in climate adaptation. - Women's vulnerability and exposure to climate change arise from: - (i) social inequalities and cultural norms that shape their responsibilities and constrain their response during natural disasters; - (ii) economic inequalities that lead them to possess fewer economic assets and heighten their dependence on natural resources and agricultural livelihoods; - (iii) greater food insecurity; and - (iv) more limited access to finance, education, and healthcare. - Gender-responsive policies to consider in mitigation and adaptation: - Promoting women’s access to and participation in reskilling programs or STEM education. - Implementing the green transition in a gender-neutral way by assessing differential impacts on women and proposing policy measures to avoid increasing inequality. - Evidence of women’s impact in climate transition: - Organizations with greater gender diversity in leadership teams outperform in environmental impact goals (Glass and others, 2015). - Following the Paris Agreement, companies with more gender-balanced leadership reduced CO2 emissions by 5 percent more than others (Altunbas and others, 2021). - Greater gender diversity in national parliaments is associated with the adoption of more stringent climate change policies and lower emissions (Mavisakalyan and Tarverdi, 2019). - Digitalization and financial inclusion - Women are underrepresented in access to formal financial institutions and digital financial services. - Women are less likely to hold bank accounts, have access to credit, and be able to access mobile money systems. - Barriers include gender discrimination, legal barriers, higher rates of poverty, lack of financial literacy, and higher likelihood of being employed in the informal sector. - Digital financial inclusion is essential for empowering women and increasing the productive capacity of economies. - Policy levers include investing in technology education and improving information and communications technology infrastructure to support female employment and boost female leadership. - Fragile and conflict-affected states - Gender inequality is acute in fragile and conflict-affected states; pre-existing vulnerabilities can exacerbate gender inequality. - In several conflict-affected countries, women and girls have been targeted as a tactic of war (World Bank, 2013). - Increased levels of gender-based violence can undermine economic empowerment policies and lead to significant macroeconomic losses (Ouedraogo and Stenzel, 2021). - Women face disproportionate exposure to weak governance and institutions, underdeveloped infrastructure, and reduced access to education and health facilities; fragility and conflict are also exacerbated by gender disparities. - Policies promoting gender equality can build resilience, prevent relapse into conflict, and foster transitions from fragility to stability. - Example impacts: - The number of female-headed households can increase significantly after war or conflict (World Bank, 2013). - Targeting female labor force participation can strengthen resilience during post-conflict transitions and recoveries. - Greater gender diversity in peace processes and negotiations can enhance economic development and improve outcomes before, during, and after conflict. - The IMF Fragile and Conflict-Affected States Strategy calls for the integration of gender into dialogue with country authorities and country engagement strategies (CES), which inform policy advice in surveillance, lending, and CD. ### Staff resources: tools, data, and training - Tools and consultation - A wide range of tools and resources are available to IMF staff, including internal material, a seminar series, a reference guide, and short summaries on key gender issues (care economy, labor force participation gaps, climate change and gender, gender in fragile state settings). - Early-stage approaches for discussion with authorities include benchmarking, stocktaking, rule-of-thumb estimates, and existing papers. - Staff could begin macrocriticality assessment using the Gender Data Hub, the Macrocritical Indicators Dashboard, or the Gender Inequality Tool (accessible only to IMF staff). - New tools enable cross-country comparisons, identification of missing data, and data visualization (charts, tables, maps, scatter plots). - Other analytical toolkits: - Growth Decomposition, Equity Gains, Child Marriage toolkits quantify impacts on economic growth or GDP. - Labor Decomposition, Fuel Subsidy, and Gender Budgeting toolkits provide insights into policy measures. - Note on data gaps: - Many countries lack sufficient data to assess gender gaps; country teams can work with authorities to develop plans to improve statistical capacity based on potential highest economic and social return. - Databases and Tools (accessible only to IMF staff) — main use and summary - Assessing Macrocriticality and Benchmarking: - Gender Data Hub: standardized macrocritical gender-related data; data visualizations by topic and country; examine data availability; download data. Data are available in an EcOS database and can be used to create refreshable files. STA is enhancing the Gender Data Hub with the addition of individual country tables. - Macrocritical Indicators Dashboard: captures gender gaps in key indicators across member countries, overview of missing indicators by country, range of visualizations for comparison across countries and regions. - Gender Inequality Tool: examines gender gaps in outcomes, opportunities, and representation/agency; provides ready-made visuals comparing differences across countries, regions, and income groups. - Financial Inclusion Tool: benchmarks countries’ state of financial inclusion across gender and income groups; relates gaps in financial inclusion to macroeconomic indicators; points to possible constraints. - Quantifying Macroeconomic Impacts of Gender Gaps: - Growth Decomposition Tool: adapts a system GMM model to provide country-level estimates on relationship between gender inequality and growth; features customizable data visualization tools. - Equity Gains Tool: offers a “back of the envelope” analysis of potential economic benefits to closing gender gaps in employment rates, hours worked, and earnings. - Child Marriage Tool: compares growth effects and informs decisions on targeted interventions to address child marriage and its impact on economic development. - Gender Labor Market Tool: identifies key factors contributing to employment gender gaps in levels and rates of change; quantifies the most significant factor responsible for the gap and factors contributing most to the rate of change. - Policy Tools: - Fuel Subsidy Tool: examines how fuel subsidies affect male- and female-headed households of different income levels; provides charts for sectoral, income, and gender-based analysis. - Gender Budgeting Tool: tracks gender budgeting efforts in more than 100 countries and offers visualization options. - Training - Comprehensive gender-related training for staff was launched in FY24. - Recordings from trainings on the “Gender Equality and Macroeconomics” course and a session on macro modeling are available for staff; these cover empirical evidence on gender gaps and effects on macroeconomic outcomes, gender-responsive fiscal and structural policies, gender-related data resources, models, and toolkits. - A comprehensive two-day course on the Macroeconomics of Gender Inequality was developed (December 2023). - A modular online course on gender budgeting is planned to be launched in FY25; this course will be available to IMF staff and the public. ### External collaboration and outreach - External collaboration is a critical pillar of the IMF gender mainstreaming strategy. - The IMF Executive Board emphasized deepening collaboration with partners such as the World Bank Group, UN Women, and bilateral partners including the European Union and the UK Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office (FCDO) to support knowledge sharing, leverage complementarities, avoid duplication, and maximize impact. - Engaging external partners supports development of granular and tailored policy advice; recommended partners include CSOs, think tanks, academics, trade unions, bilateral development partners, foundations, and international organizations. - Two external advisory groups on gender, comprising academics and CSOs, regularly meet with staff to provide guidance on analytical and policy work. - Country teams and technical assistance providers are encouraged to reach out to relevant organizations; SPR staff are available to facilitate connections. - Engagement with CSOs will be guided by the 2015 Staff Guidelines on IMF Staff Engagement with Civil Society Organizations. - External engagement raises awareness of gender work at the Fund and aids dissemination of IMF analytical work through participation in gender-related conferences, events, blogs, research, and publications; SPR and the Communications Department can assist country teams on engagement and dissemination. ### Operational guidance and country engagement - The note offers early guidance to country teams on operationalizing gender in line with the 2022 Strategy Toward Mainstreaming Gender. - It provides guidance on: - How to approach macrocriticality and embed gender into the general policy dialogue via a frictions-based approach. - Expected breadth and depth of analysis in light touch and deep dive cases to ensure consistent assessment and reporting in initial phases. - Practical guidance on content and modalities of dialogue with authorities, external partners, and other stakeholders. - Country-level examples and activity (selected entries — Fiscal Year, Published Date, Light Touch (LT) or Deep Dive (DD), Area, Country, Topics Covered): - 22, 6-Mar-23, LT, AFR, Angola, Gender budgeting - 23, 24-Jan-23, LT, AFR, Guinea, Schooling, human capital, food insecurity - 23, 9-May-23, LT, AFR, Mali, Fragility, gender equality, and demographics - 23, 6-June-23, LT, AFR, Rwanda, Gender equity and climate change - 23, 6-Jun-23, LT, AFR, South Africa, Gender pay gaps - 23, 1-Feb-23, LT, APD, Australia, Gender pay gaps, labor market reforms, FLFP - 23, 30-Mar-23, LT, APD, Japan, Labor market, STEM education/training - 23, 2-Mar-23, LT, EUR, Belgium, Pension, employment - 23, 20-Jan-23, LT, EUR, Czechia (Czech Republic), Employment - 23, 18-Jul-22, LT, MCD, Jordan, FLFP and inclusive growth, safe workplace, labor market segregation, gender-biased legislations - 23, 3-Feb-23, LT, MCD, Mauritania, Climate and gender - 23, 24-Jan-23, LT, MCD, Morocco, FLFP, estimates on income losses from gender gaps - 24, 6-Sep-23, LT, MCD, Saudi Arabia, FLFP, gender gaps, and labor market reforms - 23, 25-Apr-23, LT, MCD, West Bank and Gaza, FLFP, entrepreneurship, legal and labor market reforms - 23, 24-Mar-23, LT, WHD, Panama, Employment and entrepreneurship - 23, 21-Jun-22, LT, WHD, Paraguay, Digitalization and FLFP - 23, 18-Jan-23, DD, AFR, Niger, Gender gaps and GDP gains - 24, 5-May-23, LT, AFR, Eswatini, Gender gaps, income inequality, legal and labor market reforms, health, gender-based violence - 24, 24-May-23, LT, EUR, Luxembourg, Gender pay gaps and FLFP - 23, 3-Feb-23, LT, MCD, Iraq, Unemployment, education, labor market and data collection ### Macro model frameworks for analyzing gender inequality (Appendix II) - IMF staff developed a model-based framework: a Dynamic General Equilibrium Life-Cycle Model with Heterogeneous Agents to quantify key transmission channels through which gender-responsive policies impact: - (i) female labor force participation (FLFP), - (ii) earnings, - (iii) economic growth, - (iv) income inequality and poverty, and - (v) public finances. - Model features: - Country-specific. - Allows for heterogeneity in individuals by (i) gender, (ii) stage of life, (iii) labor skills, and (iv) access to savings. - Examines gender biases in the workplace and household that create barriers for women to join the labor force. - Allows workers to decide between participating in formal or informal jobs to account for women’s overrepresentation in the informal sector, particularly in low-income countries and emerging markets. *Italic: ppea2024003 - 37. The Guidance Note for Surveillance Under Article IV Consultations recommends* ### 2. In each life period, households (comprising a man and a woman) make decisions about ### ppea2024003 - 2. In each life period, households (comprising a man and a woman) make decisions about ### Model structure and household decisions - Households comprise a man and a woman who jointly decide consumption of goods and services produced in formal and informal sectors; labor supply decisions are made separately by gender. - Men decide the number of hours worked in formal and/or informal sectors. - Women decide first whether to participate in the labor market and, if they do, how many hours to work in the formal and/or informal sectors. - Households incur a utility cost when women participate in the labor market due to: - the need to coordinate home production, child/elderly care, and other unpaid work; - overcoming legal and social barriers. - Human capital is determined by initial skills and years of education and evolves endogenously through on-the-job experience. - Production: - Formal sector production uses capital and labor inputs. - Informal sector production uses only labor. - Market frictions and policies: - Women face wage discrimination. - Households pay taxes on formal sector goods and services purchases and on earned income. - Corporate revenues in the formal sector are taxed. - Government spends revenues on public consumption, public education, and transfers. ### Niger simulation: equalizing girls’ education with boys (IMF (2023)) - Policy simulated: increase in education spending so that the number of years of education of boys and girls within the same income percentile is equalized. - Labor market and household outcomes: - Female labor force participation is expected to increase by 85.6 percent. - Household mean labor income goes up by 8.6 percent. - The overall gender gap in mean labor income, as measured by the male-to -female ratio, goes down by 53.3 percent. - Macroeconomic outcomes: - GDP rises by 11.2 percent, driven primarily by the increase in effective hours worked. - Aggregate private consumption increases by 3 percent. - Fiscal implications and public spending: - Government must increase public education spending by 21.2 percent to implement the policy. - Total government spending rises by 3 percent. - Tax revenue changes: - Revenues from taxes on labor income grow by 15.3 percent. - Revenues from taxes on corporate income grow by 16.2 percent. - Revenues from consumption taxes grow by 3 percent. - Total tax revenue increases by 11.3 percent. - Fiscal balance impact: - Increased revenues provide more than enough resources to cover the new education expenditures, implying a 9.3 percent reduction in the primary deficit. - Note: such an increase in education spending would imply budget reallocation and efficiency improvement. ### Applications of the Dynamic General Equilibrium Life-Cycle Model with Heterogeneous Agents (Appendix Table 1) - Closing gender gaps in education: Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone - Cash transfers to poor working women: Argentina, Senegal - Eliminating gender bias in the workplace: Iran, Lao P.D.R., Nigeria - Introducing paid maternity leave: United States - Spending on infrastructure: Senegal - Tax policies: Argentina, United States - Subsidized childcare: United States - Reducing legal barriers: Egypt ### Summary of selected empirical findings (from Appendix III) - Macroeconomic impacts of gender inequality: - Decreasing gender inequality index by 1 (scale 0 to 1) increases per capita GDP growth rate by 2 percentage points (78 countries). - Decreasing the legal inequality index by 1 (scale 0 to 6) increases growth by 0.296 percentage points (78 countries). - When initial FLFP is 25 percent and elasticity of substitution between males and females is 0.75, closing gender gaps in LFP increases GDP by 80 percent. When initial FLFP is 60 percent and elasticity is 2, closing LFP gender gaps increases GDP by 10 percent. - A one percentage point increase of females who borrow from and have an account at a financial institution reduces the magnitude of the income inequality index by approximately 0.3 and 0.1, respectively. - An industry with a higher share of females (75th percentile versus 25th) grows its value-added 1.7 percentage points faster when located in a country with lower gender inequality (25th percentile versus 75th). - An increase in the share of women subject to violence by 1 percentage point can reduce night-light based economic activities by up to 8.7 percent due to a 2.5 percentage points drop in female employment. - A 1 percentage point increase in labor force participation among women with high educational attainment would raise Canada’s overall labor productivity growth by 0.2 to 0.3 percentage point a year, resulting in an increase of real GDP by 4 percent. - Women’s employment is less sensitive to the business cycle than men’s: for each 1 percentage point rise in the output gap, the unemployment gap for women (men) is 0.2 (0.3) percentage points lower in AEs and 0.1 (0.3) percentage points lower in EMDEs. - Drivers of gender inequality and policy effects: - Removal of each legal barrier on females in OECD increases FLFP by 2-3 percentage points. In EMDEs, removing multiple legal restrictions is associated with a decline in the labor force gender gap of around 4.6 percentage points. - A 10-percentage point increase in the share of women on bank boards is associated with a higher distance-to-distress “Z-score” of 8. - Fiscal policies: - In advanced economies, changing the unit of taxation has long-term returns to FLFP, growth, and inequality at a zero cost. - In advanced economies, childcare and paid maternity leave boost FLFP (effect greater for low-skilled women). - In low-income countries, infrastructure and education policies increase FLFP, productivity, and growth. - In low-income countries, cash transfers have immediate effects in inequality and FLFP, but not in productivity. - Gender and technology: - Female workers face a higher risk of automation compared to male workers (11 percent versus 9 percent), with 26 million female jobs facing a higher than 70 percent risk of being automated within the next two decades. - Gender, care, and COVID-19: - On average, women do two more hours of unpaid work per day than men. - Women with children spend 37 more minutes per day on unpaid work than women without children. - Time spent on unpaid work increases by 12 minutes, on average, per child for women. - Men with children increase their time spent on unpaid work by 6 minutes on average per additional child. - Over half to two-thirds of the countries experienced “she-cessions” in 2020 Q2; by contrast, only about 8 percent of the countries experienced a “she-cession” during the depths of the global financial crisis (2009 Q2). - The loss of employment of women with young children due to the burden of additional childcare is estimated to account for 45 percent of the increase in the employment gender gap, and to reduce total output by 0.36 percent between April and November 2020. - Epidemics reduce primary education completion rates by 2.1 percentage points for boys and 3 percentage points for girls; reduce lower secondary completion rates by 2 percentage points for boys and 2.5 percentage points for girls. - In Senegal the potential loss of lifelong labor earnings from dropping out of school is almost double for girls than for boys (a monthly earning loss of 32 percent for girls and 18 percent for boys). - Women in fintech: a 10 percent greater presence of women on executive boards is linked to approximately a 13 percent increase in a firm’s revenue and funding. *Source: ppea2024003 - 2. In each life period, households (comprising a man and a woman) make decisions about (IMF PDF).* ### References ### References ### Gender and Macroeconomics; Growth and Labor Markets - Alonso, C., M. Brussevich, E. Dabla-Norris, Y. Kinoshita, and K. Kochhar, 2019, “Reducing and Redistributing Unpaid Work: Stronger Policies to Support Gender Equality,” IMF Working Paper 19/225. International Monetary Fund, Washington, D.C. - Badel, A., and R. Goyal, 2023, “When will Global Gender Gaps Close?” IMF Working Paper 23/189. International Monetary Fund, Washington, DC. - Bandara, R., 2015, “The Economic Cost of Gender Gaps in Effective Labor: Africa's see Growth Reserve,” Feminist Economics, 21(2), 162-186. - Bertay, A. C., L. Dordevic, and C. Sever, 2020, “Gender Inequality and Economic Growth: Evidence from Industry-Level Data,” IMF Working Paper 20/119. International Monetary Fund, Washington, DC - Brussevich, M., E. Dabla -Norris, C. Kamunge, P. Karnane, S. Khalid, and K. Kochhar, 2018, “Gender, Technology, and the Future of Work,” IMF Staff Discussion Note 18/07. International Monetary Fund, Washington, DC. - Cuberes, D., and M. Teignier, 2016, “Aggregate Effects of Gender Gaps in the Labor Market: A Quantitative Estimate,” Journal of Human Capital 10 (1), 1–32. - ______, 2018, “Macroeconomic Costs of Gender Gaps in a Model with Entrepreneurship and Household Production,” The B.E Journal of Macroeconomics, 18(1). - Fabrizio, S., A. Fruttero, D. Gurara, L. Kolovich, V. Malta, M. Tavares, and N. Tchelishvili, 2020, “Women in the Labor Force: The Role of Fiscal Policies,” IMF Staff Discussion Note 20/03. International Monetary Fund, Washington, DC. - Fabrizio, S., D. B. P. Gomes, C. Meyimdjui, and M. M. Tavares, 2021a, “Epidemics, Gender, and Human Capital in Developing Countries,” IMF Working Paper 21/166. International Monetary Fund, Washington, D.C. - Fabrizio, S., D. B. P. Gomes, and M. M. Tavares, 2021b, “COVID-19 She-Cession: The Employment Penalty of Taking Care of Young Children,” IMF Working Paper 21/58. International Monetary Fund, Washington, D.C. - Bluedorn, J., F. Caselli, N.-J. Hansen, I. Shitaba, and M. M. Tavares, 2021, “Gender and Employment in the COVID-19 Recession: Evidence on “She-cessions”,” IMF Working Paper 21/95. International Monetary Fund, Washington, DC. - Gonzales, C., S. Jain-Chandra, K. Kochhar, and M. Newiak, 2015a, “Fair Play: More Equal Laws Boost Female Labor Force Participation,” Staff Discussion Note 15/02. International Monetary Fund, Washington, DC. - Gonzales, C., S. Jain-Chandra, K. Kochhar, M. Newiak, and T. Zeinullayev, 2015b, “Catalyst for Change: Empowering Women and Tackling Income Inequality,” Staff Discussion Note 15/20. International Monetary Fund, Washington, DC. - Petersson, B., R. Mariscal, and K. Ishi, 2017, “Women Are Key for Future Growth: Evidence from Canada,” IMF Working Paper 17/166. International Monetary Fund, Washington, DC. - Hsieh, C., E. Hurst, C. Jones, and P. Klenow, 2019, “The Allocation of Talent and U.S. Economic Growth,” Econometrica, 87(5), 1439–1474. - Khera, P., 2016, “Macroeconomic Impacts of Gender Inequality and Informality in India” IMF Working Paper 16/016. International Monetary Fund, Washington DC. - Kazandjian, R., L. Kolovich, K. Kochhar, and M. Newiak, 2016, “Gender Equality and Economic Diversification,” IMF Working Paper 16/140. International Monetary Fund, Washington, DC. - Haku ra, D., M. Hussain, M. Newiak, V. Thakoor, and F. Yang, 2016, “Inequality, Gender Gaps and Economic Growth: Comparative Evidence for Sub-Saharan Africa,” IMF Working Paper 16/111. International Monetary Fund, Washington, DC. ### Finance, Banking, and Access to Credit - Sahay R., and M. Čihák, 2018, "Women in Finance: A Case for Closing Gaps," IMF Staff Discussion Note 18/005. International Monetary Fund, Washington, DC. - Čihák, M., and R. Sahay, 2020, “Finance and Inequality,” Staff Discussion Note 20/01. International Monetary Fund, Washington, DC. - Sahay, R., M. Čihák, P. Khera, and S. Ogawa, 2022, forthcoming, “Women and Finance in the Post-COVID World”, IMF Staff Discussion Note. International Monetary Fund, Washington, DC. - Khera, P., S. Ogawa, R. Sahay, and M. Vasishth, 2022, “Women in Fintech: As Leaders and Users” IMF Working Paper 22/140. International Monetary Fund, Washington DC. - Sever, C., 2022, “Legal Gender Equality as a Catalyst for Convergence” IMF Working Paper 2022/155. International Monetary Fund, Washington, D.C. - Strøm, R., B. D’Espallier, and R. Mersland, 2014, “Female Leadership, Performance, and Governance in Microfinance Institutions.” Journal of Banking and Finance Vol. 42, 60–75. - Olusegun, T. S., 2017, “Financial Inclusion and the Role of Women in Nigeria,” African Development Review, 29(2), 249–58. - Blanton, R. and S. L. Blanton, 2015, “Is Foreign Direct Investment “Gender Blind”? Women's Rights as a Determinant of US FDI,” Feminist Economics, 21(4), 61-88 Coleman (2010). - Busse, M. and P. Nunnenkamp, 2009, “Gender Disparity in Education and the International Competition for Foreign Direct Investment,” Feminist Economics 15(3), 61–90. ### Innovation, Education, STEM, and Skills - Cook, L., 2019, “The Innovation Gap in Pink and Black," in Wisnioski, Hintz, and Stettler Kleine, eds. Does America Need More Innovators? Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press. - Cook, L., J. Gerson, and J. Kuan, 2021, “Closing the Innovation Gap in Pink and Black,” NBER Working Paper 29354, National Bureau of Economic Research. - UNESCO, 2017, “Cracking the Code: Girls' and Women's Education in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM),” UNESCO Publishing, Paris, France. - Xu, R., 2023, “A New Growth Engine for Japan: Women in STEM Fields,” Selected Issues Paper 2023/30. International Monetary Fund, Washington, DC. ### Gender, Conflict, Violence, and Humanitarian Settings - Caprioli, M., 2005, “Primed for Violence: The Role of Gender Inequality in Predicting Internal Conflict,” International Studies Quarterly, 49(2), 161-178. - Demeritt, J., A. Nichols, and E. Kelly, 2014, “Female Participation and Civil War Relapse,” Civil Wars, 16(3), 346-368. - Ouedraogo, R., and I. Ouedraogo, 2019. “Gender Equality and Electoral Violence in Africa: Unlocking the Peacemaking Potential of Women”. IMF Working Paper WPIEA2019174. International Monetary Fund, Washington, DC. - Ouedraogo, R., and D. Stenzel, 2021, “The Heavy Economic Toll of Gender-based Violence: Evidence from Sub-Saharan Africa,” IMF Working Paper 2021/277. International Monetary Fund, Washington, DC. - International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), 2022, “That Never Happens Here: Sexual and Gender-Based Violence Against Men, Boys and/Including LGBTQ+ Persons in Humanitarian Settings.” - UN Women, 2020, “COVID-19 and Ending Violence Against Women and Girls,” EVAW COVID-19 Briefs. - UN Women, 2021, “Measuring the Shadow Pandemic: Violence Against Women During COVID-19.” - World Health Organization, 2021, “Violence Against Women prevalence Estimates, 2018.” World Health Organization, Switzerland. ### Gender Policy, Legal Reforms, and Public Finance Instruments - Baer, K., M. Cotton, E. Gavin, C. Negus, and K. Williams, 2023, "Gender and Revenue Administration: Principles and Practices." IMF Technical Notes and Manuals 2023/04. International Monetary Fund, Washington, DC - Fabrizio, S., D. B. P. Gomes, L. Kolovich, and others (2020–2021) (see specific entries under Labor and Macroeconomics). - Gonzales, C., S. Jain-Chandra, K. Kochhar, M. Newiak, and T. Zeinullayev, 2015b, “Catalyst for Change: Empowering Women and Tackling Income Inequality,” Staff Discussion Note 15/20. International Monetary Fund, Washington, DC. - Jain-Chandra, S., K. Kochhar, M. Newiak, Y. Yang, and E. Zoli, 2018, “Gender Equality: Which Policies have the Biggest Bang for the Buck,” IMF Working Paper 2018/105. International Monetary Fund, Washington, DC. - Demery, L., and I. Gaddis, 2009, “Social Spending, Poverty, and Gender Equality in Kenya: A Benefit Incidence Analysis,” Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit, Nairobi. - Duflo, E., 2003, “Grandmothers and Granddaughters: Old‐Age Pensions and Intrahousehold Allocation in South Africa,” The World Bank Economic Review, 17(1), 1–25. - Duflo, E., 2012, “Women Empowerment and Economic Development,” Journal of Economic Literature, 50(4), 1051–1079. - Edo, M., and M. Marchionni, 2019, “The Impact of a Conditional Cash Transfer Programme on Education Outcomes Beyond School Attendance in Argentina,” Journal of Development Effectiveness 11(3), 230-252. - Mitra, P., Pondi Endengle, E., Pant, M., Almeida, L., 2020, “ Does Child Marriage Matter for Growth?” IMF Working Paper 2020/27. International Monetary Fund, Washington DC. - Ostry, J.D., J. Alvarez, R.A. Espinoza, and C. Papageorgiou, 2018, "Economic Gains from Gender Inclusion: New Mechanisms, New Evidence," IMF Staff Discussion Note 18/006. International Monetary Fund, Washington, DC. - World Bank, 2023, “Women, Business, and the Law,” https://wbl.worldbank.org/en/wbl ### Governance, Diversity, Climate, and Sustainability - Altunbas, Y., Gambacorta, L., Reghezza, A., & Velliscig, G, 2021, "Does gender diversity in the workplace mitigate climate change?" BIS Working Papers, No. 977, Monetary and Economic Department. Bank for International Settlements, Basel, Switzerland. - Glass, C., Cook, A., & Ingersoll, A. R, 2015, "Do Women Leaders Promote Sustainability? Analyzing the Effect of Corporate Governance Composition on Environmental Performance,” Business Strategy and the Environment 25(7), 495-511. - Mavisakalyan, A., and Tarverdi, Y, 2019, "Gender and climate change: Do female parliamentarians make a difference?" European Journal of Political Economy 56, 151-164. - Woetzel, J., A. Madgavkar, K. Ellingrud, E. Labaye, S. Devillard, E. Kutcher, J. Manyika, R. Dobbs, and M. Krishnan, 2015, “The Power of Parity: How Advancing Women’s Equality Can Add $12 Trillion to Global Growth,” McKinsey Global Institute. ### Indices, Data Sources, and Organizational Reports - Official Monetary and Financial Institutions Forum (OMFIF), 2023, “Gender Balance Index 2023,” 10th Edition. - United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), “Gender Development Index.” https://hdr.undp.org/gender-development-index#/indicies/GDI - Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), 2021, “Bringing Household Services out of the Shadows: Formalising Non-Care Work in and Around the House,” https://read.oecd-ilibrary.org/social-issues-migration-health/bringing-household-services-out-of-the-shadows_fbea8f6e-en#page1 - OECD, 2023, “Social Institutions and Gender Index.” https://www.oecd.org/stories/gender/social-norms-and-gender-discrimination/sigi/ - World Bank, 2013, “World Bank Group Assistance to Low-Income Fragile and Conflict-Affected States: An Independent Evaluation,” fcs_eval.pdf (worldbankgroup.org) - International Finance Corporation, 2017, “MSME Finance Gap: Assessment of the Shortfalls and Opportunities in Financing Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises in Emerging Markets,” http://hdl.handle.net/10986/28881, (Washington, DC). ### Behavioral, Organizational, and Empirical Studies - Rock, D., and H. Grant, 2016, “Why Diverse Teams Are Smarter," Harvard Business Review, November 4. - Seguino, S., 2000, “The Effects of Structural Change and Economic Liberalization on Gender Wage Differentials in South Korea and Taiwan.” Cambridge Journal of Economics 24(4), 437–459. - ______, 2010, “Gender, Distribution, and Balance of Payments Constrained Growth in Developing Countries.” Review of Political Economy 22(3), 373–404. - Seguino, S., G. Berik, and Y. Rodgers, 2009, “Promoting Gender Equality as a Means to Finance Development.” Friedrich Ebert Stiftung Occasional Paper Series. - Blanton, R., S. Blanton, and D. Peksen. 2019, "The gendered consequences of financial crises: A cross-national analysis," Politics & Gender, 15(4): 941-970. - Flamini, V., D. B. P. Gomes, F. Huang, L. Kolovich, A. Puig, and A. Zdzienicka, 2023, “Monetary Policy and Labor Market Gender Gaps,” IMF Working Paper 2023/211. International Monetary Fund, Washington, D.C. - Georgieva, K., S. Fabrizio, D. B. P. Gomes, and M. M. Tavares, 2021, “COVID-19: The Moms’ Emergency,” IMF Blog, https://blogs.imf.org/2021/04/30/covid-19-the-moms-emergency-2 *Content compiled from the "References" section of ppea2024003 - References.* --- _Source: https://www.imf.org/-/media/files/publications/pp/2024/english/ppea2024003.pdf_