Empowering Women : Legal Rights and Economic Opportunities in Africa
This book looks at the effect of legal and economic rights on women's economic opportunities. It focuses on entrepreneurship because women in Africa are active entrepreneurs, and the links between property rights and the ability to enter contr...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Publication |
| Language: | English en_US |
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Washington, DC: World Bank
2012
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2012/10/16800303/empowering-women-legal-rights-economic-opportunities-africa http://hdl.handle.net/10986/11960 |
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okr-10986-11960 |
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| recordtype |
oai_dc |
| repository_type |
Digital Repository |
| institution_category |
Foreign Institution |
| institution |
Digital Repositories |
| building |
World Bank Open Knowledge Repository |
| collection |
World Bank |
| language |
English en_US |
| topic |
ECONOMIC INTEGRATION AGRICULTURAL PROTECTION ANNUAL GROWTH BARRIERS TO ENTRY BONDS BUSINESS CYCLE BUSINESS CYCLES CAPITAL FLOWS CAPITAL GOODS CAPITAL INFLOWS CAPITAL MARKETS CONSUMER PRICE INDEX CONSUMERS CPI DEBT DEVELOPING COUNTRIES DEVELOPING COUNTRY DEVELOPING REGIONS DEVELOPING WORLD DEVELOPMENT ECONOMICS DIVERSIFICATION DIVIDENDS ECONOMIC COOPERATION ECONOMIC ENVIRONMENT ECONOMIC INSTABILITY ECONOMIC INTEGRATION EXCHANGE RATE EXCHANGE RATES EXPORT GROWTH EXPORTS EXTERNAL ENVIRONMENT EXTERNAL FACTORS FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS FINANCIAL INTEGRATION FINANCIAL MARKETS FINANCIAL SECTOR FINANCIAL SYSTEM FISCAL PRESSURES FORECASTS FREE TRADE GDP GENERALIZED SYSTEM OF PREFERENCES GLOBAL CONDITIONS GLOBAL ECONOMY GNP GROSS DEBT GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT GROWTH PERFORMANCE GROWTH PROSPECTS GROWTH RATES HIGH INFLATION HIGH PREMIUM HIGH UNEMPLOYMENT IMPORTS INCOME INCOME GROWTH INDUSTRIAL COUNTRIES INFLATION INFLATION PERFORMANCE INFLATION RATES INTEREST RATES INTERNATIONAL EXPERIENCE INTERNATIONAL MARKETS INTERNATIONAL TRADE INVENTORIES INVESTMENT RATES LABOR COSTS LABOR FORCE LABOR MARKET LOCAL CURRENCY LOW INFLATION LOW INTEREST RATES LOW-INCOME COUNTRIES MACROECONOMIC POLICIES MACROECONOMIC STABILITY MARKET PRICES MIDDLE-INCOME COUNTRIES MONETARY POLICIES MONETARY POLICY NATIONAL ACCOUNTS NON-OECD COUNTRIES OIL OIL EXPORTERS OIL PRICES OPEC OPEN ECONOMIES OUTPUT GROWTH PER CAPITA INCOMES POLICY REFORMS POTENTIAL OUTPUT PRIMARY COMMODITIES PRIMARY PRODUCTS PRIVATE SECTOR PRODUCERS PRODUCT MARKETS PRODUCTION COSTS PRODUCTION PROCESSES PRODUCTIVITY PURCHASING POWER PURCHASING POWER PARITY REAL GDP REAL INTEREST REAL INTEREST RATES RECESSION RECESSIONS REGULATORY FRAMEWORK RESOURCE ALLOCATION SAVINGS SHORT-TERM INTEREST RATES STRUCTURAL UNEMPLOYMENT TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER TELECOMMUNICATIONS TRADE BARRIERS TRADE LIBERALIZATION TRADE POLICIES TRADE VOLUMES TRANSITION ECONOMIES TREASURY BILLS UNEMPLOYMENT URUGUAY ROUND WORLD ECONOMY WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION WTO |
| spellingShingle |
ECONOMIC INTEGRATION AGRICULTURAL PROTECTION ANNUAL GROWTH BARRIERS TO ENTRY BONDS BUSINESS CYCLE BUSINESS CYCLES CAPITAL FLOWS CAPITAL GOODS CAPITAL INFLOWS CAPITAL MARKETS CONSUMER PRICE INDEX CONSUMERS CPI DEBT DEVELOPING COUNTRIES DEVELOPING COUNTRY DEVELOPING REGIONS DEVELOPING WORLD DEVELOPMENT ECONOMICS DIVERSIFICATION DIVIDENDS ECONOMIC COOPERATION ECONOMIC ENVIRONMENT ECONOMIC INSTABILITY ECONOMIC INTEGRATION EXCHANGE RATE EXCHANGE RATES EXPORT GROWTH EXPORTS EXTERNAL ENVIRONMENT EXTERNAL FACTORS FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS FINANCIAL INTEGRATION FINANCIAL MARKETS FINANCIAL SECTOR FINANCIAL SYSTEM FISCAL PRESSURES FORECASTS FREE TRADE GDP GENERALIZED SYSTEM OF PREFERENCES GLOBAL CONDITIONS GLOBAL ECONOMY GNP GROSS DEBT GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT GROWTH PERFORMANCE GROWTH PROSPECTS GROWTH RATES HIGH INFLATION HIGH PREMIUM HIGH UNEMPLOYMENT IMPORTS INCOME INCOME GROWTH INDUSTRIAL COUNTRIES INFLATION INFLATION PERFORMANCE INFLATION RATES INTEREST RATES INTERNATIONAL EXPERIENCE INTERNATIONAL MARKETS INTERNATIONAL TRADE INVENTORIES INVESTMENT RATES LABOR COSTS LABOR FORCE LABOR MARKET LOCAL CURRENCY LOW INFLATION LOW INTEREST RATES LOW-INCOME COUNTRIES MACROECONOMIC POLICIES MACROECONOMIC STABILITY MARKET PRICES MIDDLE-INCOME COUNTRIES MONETARY POLICIES MONETARY POLICY NATIONAL ACCOUNTS NON-OECD COUNTRIES OIL OIL EXPORTERS OIL PRICES OPEC OPEN ECONOMIES OUTPUT GROWTH PER CAPITA INCOMES POLICY REFORMS POTENTIAL OUTPUT PRIMARY COMMODITIES PRIMARY PRODUCTS PRIVATE SECTOR PRODUCERS PRODUCT MARKETS PRODUCTION COSTS PRODUCTION PROCESSES PRODUCTIVITY PURCHASING POWER PURCHASING POWER PARITY REAL GDP REAL INTEREST REAL INTEREST RATES RECESSION RECESSIONS REGULATORY FRAMEWORK RESOURCE ALLOCATION SAVINGS SHORT-TERM INTEREST RATES STRUCTURAL UNEMPLOYMENT TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER TELECOMMUNICATIONS TRADE BARRIERS TRADE LIBERALIZATION TRADE POLICIES TRADE VOLUMES TRANSITION ECONOMIES TREASURY BILLS UNEMPLOYMENT URUGUAY ROUND WORLD ECONOMY WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION WTO Hallward-Driemeier, Mary Hasan, Tazeen Empowering Women : Legal Rights and Economic Opportunities in Africa |
| geographic_facet |
Africa Sub-Saharan Africa |
| relation |
Africa Development Forum; |
| description |
This book looks at the effect of legal
and economic rights on women's economic opportunities.
It focuses on entrepreneurship because women in Africa are
active entrepreneurs, and the links between property rights
and the ability to enter contracts in one's own name
affect entrepreneurial activities. The laws that are the
focus of this book are not business laws and regulations,
which are generally gender blind and presuppose that
individuals can own property or enter into contracts.
Instead, the book examines family, inheritance, and land
laws, which oft en restrict these rights in ways that hurt
women. This book surveys constitutions and statutes in all
47 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa to document where gender
gaps in these laws impinge on women's legal capacity,
property rights, or both. The book also looks at some labor
law issues, such as restrictions on the types of industries
or hours of work in which women may engage and provisions
for equal pay for work of equal value. These laws affect
women as employees and influence the attractiveness of wage
employment versus entrepreneurship. They were also selected
because they affect the choice of enterprise women may run.
The equal pay for work of equal value provisions are also of
interest as an indicator of the recognition of women's
broader economic rights. This book provides a series of
indicators that show whether a country does or does not
provide particular legal provisions. Several points are
worth emphasizing in interpreting these indicators. First,
the indicators are binary; there is no attempt to
differentiate between small and large gender gaps. Second,
the indicators are not used to generate an index or
otherwise aggregate the indicators; no weights are given to
differentiate the relative importance of different sets of
laws. Third, the indicators reflect whether certain legal
provisions are recognized in a country or not; because the
link between the indicator and gender gaps is not always
straightforward, care must be taken in making value
judgments. Although some indicators reveal that women are
treated equally or identify gender differences in treatment,
others do not. Although recognition of these sources of law
can have implications for women's rights, it does not
necessarily imply that women's rights are stronger or
weaker. Conversely, the inclusion of some protections for
women's rights may reflect not the strong standing of
women but rather the fact that gender equality is not seen
as axiomatic and needs to be explicitly stated. Second and
third chapters focus on formal rights and how they have been
upheld in court decisions. Fourth chapter examines the gap
between laws on the books and practice on the ground. Fifth
chapter looks at how both the substance of law and
women's access to justice issues can be improved to
expand women's ability to pursue economic opportunities. |
| format |
Publications & Research :: Publication |
| author |
Hallward-Driemeier, Mary Hasan, Tazeen |
| author_facet |
Hallward-Driemeier, Mary Hasan, Tazeen |
| author_sort |
Hallward-Driemeier, Mary |
| title |
Empowering Women : Legal Rights and Economic Opportunities in Africa |
| title_short |
Empowering Women : Legal Rights and Economic Opportunities in Africa |
| title_full |
Empowering Women : Legal Rights and Economic Opportunities in Africa |
| title_fullStr |
Empowering Women : Legal Rights and Economic Opportunities in Africa |
| title_full_unstemmed |
Empowering Women : Legal Rights and Economic Opportunities in Africa |
| title_sort |
empowering women : legal rights and economic opportunities in africa |
| publisher |
Washington, DC: World Bank |
| publishDate |
2012 |
| url |
http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2012/10/16800303/empowering-women-legal-rights-economic-opportunities-africa http://hdl.handle.net/10986/11960 |
| _version_ |
1764418353121722368 |
| spelling |
okr-10986-119602021-04-23T14:02:58Z Empowering Women : Legal Rights and Economic Opportunities in Africa Hallward-Driemeier, Mary Hasan, Tazeen ECONOMIC INTEGRATION AGRICULTURAL PROTECTION ANNUAL GROWTH BARRIERS TO ENTRY BONDS BUSINESS CYCLE BUSINESS CYCLES CAPITAL FLOWS CAPITAL GOODS CAPITAL INFLOWS CAPITAL MARKETS CONSUMER PRICE INDEX CONSUMERS CPI DEBT DEVELOPING COUNTRIES DEVELOPING COUNTRY DEVELOPING REGIONS DEVELOPING WORLD DEVELOPMENT ECONOMICS DIVERSIFICATION DIVIDENDS ECONOMIC COOPERATION ECONOMIC ENVIRONMENT ECONOMIC INSTABILITY ECONOMIC INTEGRATION EXCHANGE RATE EXCHANGE RATES EXPORT GROWTH EXPORTS EXTERNAL ENVIRONMENT EXTERNAL FACTORS FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS FINANCIAL INTEGRATION FINANCIAL MARKETS FINANCIAL SECTOR FINANCIAL SYSTEM FISCAL PRESSURES FORECASTS FREE TRADE GDP GENERALIZED SYSTEM OF PREFERENCES GLOBAL CONDITIONS GLOBAL ECONOMY GNP GROSS DEBT GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT GROWTH PERFORMANCE GROWTH PROSPECTS GROWTH RATES HIGH INFLATION HIGH PREMIUM HIGH UNEMPLOYMENT IMPORTS INCOME INCOME GROWTH INDUSTRIAL COUNTRIES INFLATION INFLATION PERFORMANCE INFLATION RATES INTEREST RATES INTERNATIONAL EXPERIENCE INTERNATIONAL MARKETS INTERNATIONAL TRADE INVENTORIES INVESTMENT RATES LABOR COSTS LABOR FORCE LABOR MARKET LOCAL CURRENCY LOW INFLATION LOW INTEREST RATES LOW-INCOME COUNTRIES MACROECONOMIC POLICIES MACROECONOMIC STABILITY MARKET PRICES MIDDLE-INCOME COUNTRIES MONETARY POLICIES MONETARY POLICY NATIONAL ACCOUNTS NON-OECD COUNTRIES OIL OIL EXPORTERS OIL PRICES OPEC OPEN ECONOMIES OUTPUT GROWTH PER CAPITA INCOMES POLICY REFORMS POTENTIAL OUTPUT PRIMARY COMMODITIES PRIMARY PRODUCTS PRIVATE SECTOR PRODUCERS PRODUCT MARKETS PRODUCTION COSTS PRODUCTION PROCESSES PRODUCTIVITY PURCHASING POWER PURCHASING POWER PARITY REAL GDP REAL INTEREST REAL INTEREST RATES RECESSION RECESSIONS REGULATORY FRAMEWORK RESOURCE ALLOCATION SAVINGS SHORT-TERM INTEREST RATES STRUCTURAL UNEMPLOYMENT TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER TELECOMMUNICATIONS TRADE BARRIERS TRADE LIBERALIZATION TRADE POLICIES TRADE VOLUMES TRANSITION ECONOMIES TREASURY BILLS UNEMPLOYMENT URUGUAY ROUND WORLD ECONOMY WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION WTO This book looks at the effect of legal and economic rights on women's economic opportunities. It focuses on entrepreneurship because women in Africa are active entrepreneurs, and the links between property rights and the ability to enter contracts in one's own name affect entrepreneurial activities. The laws that are the focus of this book are not business laws and regulations, which are generally gender blind and presuppose that individuals can own property or enter into contracts. Instead, the book examines family, inheritance, and land laws, which oft en restrict these rights in ways that hurt women. This book surveys constitutions and statutes in all 47 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa to document where gender gaps in these laws impinge on women's legal capacity, property rights, or both. The book also looks at some labor law issues, such as restrictions on the types of industries or hours of work in which women may engage and provisions for equal pay for work of equal value. These laws affect women as employees and influence the attractiveness of wage employment versus entrepreneurship. They were also selected because they affect the choice of enterprise women may run. The equal pay for work of equal value provisions are also of interest as an indicator of the recognition of women's broader economic rights. This book provides a series of indicators that show whether a country does or does not provide particular legal provisions. Several points are worth emphasizing in interpreting these indicators. First, the indicators are binary; there is no attempt to differentiate between small and large gender gaps. Second, the indicators are not used to generate an index or otherwise aggregate the indicators; no weights are given to differentiate the relative importance of different sets of laws. Third, the indicators reflect whether certain legal provisions are recognized in a country or not; because the link between the indicator and gender gaps is not always straightforward, care must be taken in making value judgments. Although some indicators reveal that women are treated equally or identify gender differences in treatment, others do not. Although recognition of these sources of law can have implications for women's rights, it does not necessarily imply that women's rights are stronger or weaker. Conversely, the inclusion of some protections for women's rights may reflect not the strong standing of women but rather the fact that gender equality is not seen as axiomatic and needs to be explicitly stated. Second and third chapters focus on formal rights and how they have been upheld in court decisions. Fourth chapter examines the gap between laws on the books and practice on the ground. Fifth chapter looks at how both the substance of law and women's access to justice issues can be improved to expand women's ability to pursue economic opportunities. 2012-12-11T20:16:16Z 2012-12-11T20:16:16Z 2012-10-04 http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2012/10/16800303/empowering-women-legal-rights-economic-opportunities-africa 978-0-8213-9533-2 http://hdl.handle.net/10986/11960 English en_US Africa Development Forum; CC BY 3.0 IGO http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo World Bank Washington, DC: World Bank Publications & Research :: Publication Publications & Research :: Publication Africa Sub-Saharan Africa |