IN HER NAMEThe Gender Asset Project:

Comparative ResultsCarmen Diana Deere

Workshop on Gender and AssetsInternational Food Policy Research Institute

Washington, D.C.October 13, 2011

IN HER NAME: The Gender Asset Project

A three-country comparative study, funded by the Dutch Foreign Ministry MDG3 Fund5 co-PI’s:Ecuador – Carmen Diana Deere, University of

Florida, with FLACSO-EcuadorGhana – Abena Oduro, University of GhanaIndia – Hema Swaminathan, Indian Institute of

Management, BangaloreComparative - Cheryl Doss, Yale University

Caren Grown, American University

Measures of the Gender Asset Gap

1. Distribution of assets by form of ownership

2. Incidence of asset ownership

(% of men and women who own)

3. Distribution of asset owners by sex

(% of owners who are male or female)

4. Distribution of households by form of ownership

Distribution of assets by form of ownership

• Unit of analysis is the asset

• Data is presented by type of asset (dwelling, agricultural parcels, animal, cell phone, etc.)

• Forms of ownership include individual and joint

• Joint ownership broken down by:– Couple

– All household members together

– Other household members (a mother & son, etc.; also includes a household member(s) with non-household members)

Distribution of Principal Residence

by Form of Ownership

The Gender Asset Gap Project •Excludes Bangalore

Distribution of Agricultural Parcels

by Form of Ownership

The Gender Asset Gap Project •Excludes Bangalore** Agricultural land in Ghana does not include family land

Distribution of Livestock

by Form of Ownership

The Gender Asset Gap Project

•Excludes Bangalore

Distribution of Savings

by Form of Ownership

The Gender Asset Gap Project •Excludes Bangalore

Incidence of Ownership

For each asset:

No. of women who are owners/all women

No. of men who are owners/all men

Gives the percentage of women or men who are owners either individually or jointly

Data presented is for adults (18 and over)

The Gender Asset Gap Project •Excludes BangalorePercentages may not add up to 100 due to rounding

Incidence of ownership –

Principal Residence (adults)

The Gender Asset Gap Project •Excludes Bangalore

Incidence of ownership -

Agricultural Parcels (adults)

The Gender Asset Gap Project •Excludes Bangalore

Incidence of ownership -

Businesses (adults)

Incidence of ownership -

Jewelry (adults)

The Gender Asset Gap Project •Excludes Bangalore

Incidence of ownership –

Savings (adults)

The Gender Asset Gap Project •Excludes Bangalore

The Gender Wealth Gap

Valuing Physical Assets

• Market (or sales) value: For how much could you sell this asset?

• Replacement cost: How much would it cost to purchase this same asset today?

• Present value: rental rate x discount rate

Wealth Data Presented:

• Market value

• Gross rather than net(Have not yet analyzed debt)

• Based on responses to Household Inventory

(Have not yet analyzed disagreements among couples which appear in the individual questionnaires)

• Weighted

• Truncated (Ecuador & Karnataka, India)

COMPARATIVE: Share of Women’s Gross Physical Wealth

• Ecuador: 52.5%

• Ghana: 30.2%

• Karnataka: 19.0%

IMPLICATIONS:

Marital & inheritance regimes make a difference!

COMPARATIVE: Share of Women’s Wealth by Quintile

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

Ecuador India Ghana

I--Poorest

II

III

IV

V--Richest

ECUADOR: Distribution of Male and Female Heads across Total Household Wealth Quintiles

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

Quintile 1 Quintile 2 Quintile 3 Quintile 4 Quintile 5

Non partnered Male

Non partnered Female

COMPARATIVE: Composition of Wealth by Quintile

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Ecuador GhanaFinancial Assets

Consumer Durables

Business

Ag Equipment

Livestock

Other Real Estate

Ag Land

Principal Dwelling

Comparing the Gender Asset and Wealth Gaps

Here use the third measure of the Gender Asset Gap: Distribution of asset owners by sex

(% of owners who are male or female)

Compare to Gender Wealth Gap: Distribution of asset wealth by sex

(% of gross physical wealth that corresponds to men or women)

COMPARATIVE: Share of Female Homeowners and Women’s Share of Housing Wealth

54.6%

23%

37%

53.8%

29%

39%

Ecuador India Ghana

Women's share of wealth Proportion of owners who are women

COMPARATIVE: Share of Female Parcel Owners and Women’s Share of Ag Land Wealth

48%

12%

24%

51%

20%

38%

Ecuador India Ghana

Women's share of wealth Proportion of owners who are women

COMPARATIVE: Share of Female Business Owners and Women’s Share of Business Wealth

28%

5%

38%

54%

31%

70%

Ecuador India Ghana

Women's share of wealth Proportion of owners who are women

Tentative Conclusions

1. It is possible to collect individual-level wealth data by sex!

2. Wealth adds a new and important dimension to the study of gender and social inequality

3. For most assets, the Gender Wealth Gap exceeds the Gender Asset Gap

4. Across our 3 countries, greatest disparity in relative shares is with respect to businesses

Tentative Conclusions

5. Troubling that highest share of women’s household wealth concentrated in poorest quintile

6. Differing composition of wealth by quintile suggests new avenues for research and policy interventions to reduce asset poverty and hence household vulnerability

MIND THE GAP!

Thank you….

For the country studies and further information:

http://genderassetgap.iimb.ernet.in