For a sample of 53 developing countries, the results show that women's employment among private firms is significantly higher in countries that mandate paternity leave versus those that do not. A conservative estimate suggests an increase of 6.8 percentage points in the proportion of women...

Due to the strong economic growth maintained in the last 15 years, Uzbekistan made progress in reducing gender inequality. At the same time, several demographic and structural challenges remain; and effectively engaging women in the economy is one of them. While modernizing various sectors of...

The relationship between the length of paid maternity leave and the proportion of female workers in the private sector is explored using firm-level survey data for 66 mostly developing countries. The paper finds a large, positive, and statistically significant relationship between the two....

Central America lags the rest of Latin America in outcomes related to women. The countries of Central America (Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Panama) have taken important steps toward increasing the inclusion of women and improving their social and economic...

The Women Economic Empowerment report outlines the factors contributing to the persistently low economic participation of Egyptian women and to identify "gender smart" policies and solutions to boost economic growth while at the same time, narrowing relevant gender gaps. The study provides the...

The study aims to understand the constraints to women's equal participation in the roads sector inMalawi to inform the development of interventions to promote gender equality in the sector. The study adopts a career cycle approach that allows to identify and describe the barriers to career...

Although geothermal energy is globally recognized as a clean and reliable source of heat and electric power its development can inadvertently lead to adverse outcomes that disproportionately disadvantage women. Based on good practices and lessons learned, this report introduces ways that...

Reducing gender inequality makes economic sense apart from being the right thing to do. Achieving gender equality and empowering all women and girls is the fifth sustainable development goal and is a top priority for governments. Countries can achieve this goal if they take appropriate steps....

Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) are vital to the economic and social prosperity of countries. Yet, women and girls continue to be underrepresented in STEM careers, although there is wide variation among countries and across STEM fields. Beyond income disadvantages for...

Institutions are defined as the set of rules that govern human interactions. When these rules are discriminatory, they may disempower segments of a population in the economic spheres of activity. This study explores whether laws that discriminate against women influence their engagement in the...