Transition Report 2013 Stuck in transition?

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Facts at a glance

OVER 35% of variation in wealth in some transition countries is explained by circumstances at birth.

GENDER GAPS are greatest in the areas of employment, firm ownership and management across most countries observed.

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PLACE OF BIRTH is the main driver of inequality with regard to wealth.

PARENTAL EDUCATION is the main driver of inequality of opportunity with regard to tertiary education.

RIGID LABOUR MARKET STRUCTURES and weak education systems restrict opportunities for young people.

Economic inclusion

Gender gaps

Gender inclusion gaps aim to capture the extent to which economic systems favour men over women. Seven dimensions are examined here (see Table 5.1):

  • legal and social regulations, such as inheritance laws and ownership rights;
  • health indicators that relate to female participation in economic life or reflect gender bias;
  • labour policies regulating pay and access to certain professions;
  • labour practices, such as non-discrimination and equal pay;
  • educational attainment comparisons;
  • female participation in employment, management and firm ownership;
  • access to finance.

Two main types of indicator were collected to rate these dimensions: policy indices constructed by other organisations, such as the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the World Bank,1and female-to-male ratios (for example, female-to-male labour force participation rates).

Table 5.1

Gender inclusion gaps – dimensions and indicators

Dimension Indicators Sources
Legal and social regulations Addressing violence against women Economist Intelligence Unit Women's Economic Opportunity (EIU-WEO) Index, based on International Labour Organization (ILO), 2010 or latest 
Property ownership rights
Inheritance laws in favour of male heirs OECD Social Institutions and Gender Index 2009
Access to health services Sex at birth; female-to-male (f/m) ratio World Bank World Development Indicators (WDI), 2010 
Contraceptive prevalence (percentage of women aged 15-49)
Maternal mortality ratio (maternal deaths per 100,000 live births) UNICEF, 2010
Education and training Literacy rate; f/m ratio UN Social Indicators, UNICEF, census, 2010 or latest 
Primary school completion rate; f/m ratio
Gender parity index for net enrolment rate in secondary education World Bank Education Statistics, 2010 or latest  
Percentage of female graduates in tertiary education
Gender parity index for enrolment in tertiary education
Labour policy Equal pay policy EIU-WEO based on ILO, 2010 or latest     
Non-discrimination policy
Policy on maternity and paternity leave and its provision
Policy on legal restrictions on types of job for women
Differential retirement age policy
CEDAW (Convention on the Ratification of all forms of Discrimination Against Women) ratification
Assessment of labour practices Equal pay EIU-WEO based on ILO, 2010 or latest  
Non-discrimination
Access to childcare
Female top managers BEEPS, 2009
Gender pay gap United Nations Economic Commission for Europe2011
Employment and firm ownership Female participation in firm ownership BEEPS, 2009
Share of women in non-agricultural employment World Bank WDI, 2010 or latest
Labour force participation rate; f/m ratio (age 15+) World Bank Gender Indicators, UNICEF, census, 2010 or latest
Unemployment with tertiary education; f/m ratio  
Unemployment rate; f/m ratio Key Indicators of the Labour Market-ILO, 2010 or latest
Access to finance Account at a formal financial institution; f/m ratio (age 15+) Global Financial Inclusion (Global Findex) Database, 2011
Account used for business purposes; f/m ratio (age 15+)
Credit card; f/m ratio (age 15+)
Debit card; f/m ratio (age 15+)
Mobile phone used to receive money; f/m ratio (age 15+)
Mobile phone used to send money; f/m ratio (age 15+)
Saved at a financial institution in the past year; f/m ratio (age 15+)
Loans rejected for firms with female versus male ownership BEEPS, 2009

Data on female-to-male ratios were translated into percentage gaps and converted to the 1 to 4+ transition scale. An average score for each category was then calculated and transformed into the four-point gap scale. Gaps classified as “large”, “medium”, “small” and “negligible” correspond to percentage differences in gender indicators of more than 20 per cent, from 6 to 20 per cent, from 1 to 6 per cent and less than 1 per cent respectively (see Annex 5.2).

Table 5.2 suggests that there is considerable variation in gender gaps – not just across countries, but also across institutional dimensions. Gaps are generally “small” as regards education and legal regulations.2 With the exception of some SEMED countries, laws that overtly put women at a disadvantage in terms of property and inheritance laws are rare.

Primary and secondary school participation and completion rates are similar for males and females. With a few exceptions (most notably Tajikistan), recent tertiary enrolment rates actually tend to be higher for females in most countries. Significant gaps (visible in about a dozen countries) exist only with regard to literacy rates, which are a much more backward-looking indicator.

Gaps tend to be larger in dimensions related to employment, firm ownership and management – and particularly labour practices. As regards anti-discrimination practices, access to childcare, women in senior management and gender pay differentials, there are “large” gaps in most countries, and even “medium” gaps in Western comparator countries.

Table 5.2 also confirms expectations that gender gaps are often “negligible” or “small” in CEB countries – although not in employment-related areas – while “large” and “medium” gaps tend to be most apparent in the SEMED region (although less so in Tunisia) and some Central Asian countries (such as Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan). Kazakhstan and Turkey are not far behind.

In the SEMED region decades of investment in social sectors have improved women’s access to health care and education, reduced illiteracy and brought down fertility rates. However, this has not (yet) translated into higher female labour force participation rates or female empowerment. This is partly due to persistent institutional barriers that limit women’s access to economic opportunities.3

Table 5.2

Inclusion gaps for gender

Country Legal regulations Health services Education Labour policy Labour practices Employment and firm ownership Access to finance
Central Europe and the Baltic states
Croatia Negligible Small Negligible Medium Large Medium Small
Estonia Negligible Small Negligible Small Large Medium Medium
Hungary Negligible Small Negligible Negligible Large Medium Large
Latvia Small Medium Negligible Small Large Medium Small
Lithuania Negligible Small Negligible Small Medium Medium Medium
Poland Small Small Negligible Small Large Medium Medium
Slovak Republic Negligible Small Negligible Small Large Large Medium
Slovenia Negligible Small Negligible Small Large Medium Medium
South-eastern Europe       
Albania Negligible Medium Small Small Large Large Large
Bosnia and Herzegovina Negligible Medium Negligible Medium Large Large Large
Bulgaria Negligible Small Negligible Small Large Medium Medium
FYR Macedonia Small Medium Small Small Large Medium Medium
Kosovo not available not available not available not available not available not available Large
Montenegro Small Medium Negligible Medium Large Medium Medium
Romania Negligible Medium Negligible Small Large Medium Medium
Serbia Small Medium Negligible Medium Large Large Small
 
Turkey Small Small Medium Small Large Large Large
 
Eastern Europe and the Caucasus
Armenia Medium Medium Negligible Small Large Large Small
Azerbaijan Negligible Medium Small Medium Large Medium Large
Belarus Small Small Small Medium Large Small Medium
Georgia Small Large Negligible Small Large Medium Small
Moldova Small Medium Negligible Small Large Negligible Medium
Ukraine Negligible Medium Negligible Small Large Medium Large
 
Russia Small Medium Negligible Medium Large Medium Medium
 
Central Asia 
Kazakhstan Small Large Negligible Medium Large Large Medium
Kyrgyz Republic Medium Large Negligible Medium Large Medium Small
Mongolia Small Large Negligible Medium Large Negligible Small
Tajikistan Medium Large Medium Small Large Medium Large
Turkmenistan Large Large Small Medium Large Large Large
Uzbekistan Medium Medium Medium Medium Large Large Large
Southern and eastern Mediterranean
Egypt Medium Large Medium Medium Large Large Large
Jordan Medium Large Negligible Medium Large Large Large
Morocco Medium Large Medium Medium Large Large Large
Tunisia Small Medium Small Small Large Large Large
Comparator countries
France Negligible Small Negligible Small Medium Medium Medium
Germany Negligible Small Negligible Negligible Medium Medium Medium
Italy Negligible Small Negligible Small Medium Medium Large
Sweden Negligible Negligible Negligible Negligible Medium Small Medium
United Kingdom Negligible Small Negligible Small Medium Medium Medium

Source: See Table 5.1.
Note: See Annex 5.2 for methodology.

  1. For example, indices using a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 indicating full compliance with the ideal of gender equality and 1 showing a large gap. [back]
  2. The former reflects the fact that the series used in the analysis of the education gap mostly represents the current state of education systems, as measured by female-to-male ratios for primary, secondary and tertiary completion rates. [back]
  3. See World Bank (2012a). [back]

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