Related items
Showing items related by title, author, creator and subject.
-
Financial Inclusion and Legal Discrimination Against Women : Evidence from Developing CountriesThis paper documents and analyzes gender
 differences in the use of financial services using
 individual-level data from 98 developing countries. The
 data, drawn from the Global Financial Inclusion (Global
 Findex) database, highlight the existence of significant
 gender gaps in ownership of accounts and usage of savings
 and credit products. Even after controlling for a host of
 individual characteristics including income, education,
 employment status, rural residency and age, gender remains
 significantly related to usage of financial services. This
 study also finds that legal discrimination against women and
 gender norms may explain some of the cross-country variation
 in access to finance for women. The analysis finds that in
 countries where women face legal restrictions in their
 ability to work, head a household, choose where to live, and
 receive inheritance, women are less likely to own an
 account, relative to men, as well as to save and borrow. The
 results also confirm that manifestations of gender norms,
 such as the level of violence against women and the
 incidence of early marriage for women, contribute to
 explaining the variation in the use of financial services
 between men and women, after controlling for other
 individual and country characteristics.
-
Gender and Finance in Sub-Saharan Africa : Are Women Disadvantaged?This paper assesses whether there is a
 gender gap in the use of financial services by businesses
 and individuals in Sub-Saharan Africa. The authors do not
 find evidence of gender discrimination or lower inherent
 demand for financial services by enterprises with female
 ownership participation or by female individuals when key
 characteristics of the enterprises or individuals are taken
 into account. In the case of enterprises, they explain this
 finding with selection bias -- females are less likely to
 run sole proprietorships than men, and firms with female
 ownership participation are smaller, but more likely to
 innovate. In the case of individuals, the lower use of
 formal financial services by women can be explained by
 gender gaps in other dimensions related to the use of
 financial services, such as their lower level of income and
 education, and by their household and employment status.
-
Developing Skills for Economic Transformation and Social Harmony : Yunnan ProvinceChina has achieved impressive growth
 over the last three decades and has now become the
 second-largest economy in the world. To sustain its growth,
 China is transitioning from an investment-led, high-carbon
 growth model to a consumption-led, green growth model, less
 reliant on low-cost manufacturing and more on technology and
 innovation. Skills development has been a key factor
 enabling China's unprecedented growth, and will
 continue to play a vital role in sustaining its ongoing
 economic transformation and pursuit of a harmonious society.
 The study is aimed at facilitating policy development
 leading to a demand-driven, high-quality, and equitable
 education and training system conducive to lifelong
 learning. The experience of Yunnan also sheds light on
 skills development in China, as the analysis in this report
 situates Yunnan in the broader national context. The
 intended audience includes policymakers in the Ministries of
 education, human resources and social security, agriculture,
 and finance, and the poverty alleviation office and national
 development and reform commission. The report would also be
 of interest to researchers and development workers
 interested in understanding skills development in China.
 This report consists of three parts. The first part, skills
 challenges: demand, gaps, and mismatch, examines the sources
 of the mismatch of supply and demand for skilled labor in
 Yunnan. The second part, education and training, sets out
 the challenges facing Yunnan as it seeks to strengthen the
 Technical and Vocational Training and Education (TVET)
 system, improve access to education and the quality of
 educational outputs, encourage more robust work-based and
 rural training, and invest additional resources in general
 education. Finally, in conclusions and policy implications,
 the report lays out specific policy proposals that cross
 both sector lines and address sector-specific issues.