Women at Work : How Can Investment Incentives Be Used to Enhance Economic Opportunities for Women?
Around the world, women face persistent barriers in seeking to enter the labor force, attain leadership positions, and launch businesses. Gender inequality not only prevents women from achieving their full potential and gaining economic independenc...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Working Paper |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
World Bank, Washington, DC
2019
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/970491562785360610/Women-at-Work-How-Can-Investment-Incentives-Be-Used-to-Enhance-Economic-Opportunities-for-Women http://hdl.handle.net/10986/32055 |
| Summary: | Around the world, women face persistent
barriers in seeking to enter the labor force, attain
leadership positions, and launch businesses. Gender
inequality not only prevents women from achieving their full
potential and gaining economic independence, but also
inhibits the growth of national economies. In a context of
growing global competition for private investment,
policymakers face the timely challenge of ensuring that
women are not left behind in the development agenda. This
working paper identifies and analyzes investment incentives
that governments can provide to businesses with the aim of
promoting gender equality. Barriers to gender equality in
the workplace include supply-side barriers that make it
difficult for women to find jobs or investment financing,
and demand-side barriers that make it more costly for firms
or investors to hire or fund women. The paper discusses
three main types of investment incentives that governments
may use to address these barriers: (i) subsidies and grants,
(ii) tax incentives, and (iii) public procurement
incentives. Because incentives run the risk of creating
market inefficiencies and leading to redundant outcomes,
their use should be carefully conceived and implemented. The
effectiveness of these instruments will depend on the
underlying constraints to gender equality, the targeted
policy goals, implementation features, and the broader
enabling environment. Relevant studies and experiences from
several countries are used to explore when and how
governments might use investment incentives to promote
gender equality. |
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