Catalyst for Change: Empowering Women and Tackling Income Inequality
Staff Discussion Notes, October 22, 2015
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Bibliographic details
- Authors: Christian Gonzales, Sonali Jain-Chandra, Kalpana Kochhar, Monique Newiak, Tlek Zeinullayev
- Published: October 22, 2015
- Series: Staff Discussion Notes
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.5089/9781513533384.006
Study scope and methodology
- Extends the United Nation’s Gender Inequality Index (GII) to cover two decades for almost 140 countries.
- Empirical analysis controls for standard drivers of income inequality.
Key findings
- An increase in the GII from perfect gender equality to perfect inequality is associated with an almost 10 points higher net Gini coefficient.
- Gender inequality and income inequality are strongly interlinked, even after controlling for standard drivers of income inequality.
Implications by country group
- Advanced countries:
- With higher gender equity in opportunities, income inequality arises mainly through gender gaps in economic participation.
- Emerging market and developing countries:
- Inequality of opportunity, in particular in education and health, appears to pose larger obstacles to income equality.