Gender and Economic Development in Milleninium Challenge Corporation Indicators

Gender and Economic Development in Millennium Challenge Corporation Indicators: An Assessment and Recommendations Prepared for the Millennium Challenge Corporation

Prepared by Xiaojia (Lydia) Bi, Mariah Quinn Duffy,Bickey Rimal, Kelly Thorngate, and Andrew Trembley

1The MIPA Team

LydiaMariahBickeyKellyAndrew

22Project Overview Section I: Gender Equality and Economic GrowthIdentify policy instruments of gender equality through relevant scholarshipReview importance for economic growthHighlight linkages with other policy instruments

Section II: Analysis of MCCs Current IndicatorsData collection and analysisPolicy access and outcomeRelevance

Mariah33Project Overview Section III: Indicator RecommendationsModificationsBusiness Start-UpLand Rights & AccessNatural Resource ManagementPrimary Education Expenditures

AdditionsCredit AccessGender-Responsive BudgetingWomens HealthGirls Secondary School Enrollment

Mariah44Project OverviewPresentation OutlineRecommendationRationaleDescription and DataFeasibility

Mariah55Business Start-UpRecommendationModified existing indicatorCurrent indicator measures time and cost associated with starting and formally operating a business

RationaleGender equality in economic participation and market access likely to contribute to economic growthCurrent indicator fails to account for gender inequality in business ownership and operation

Bickey66Business Start-UpDescription and DataRetain: current Business Start-Up measuresNew Measure: Global Gender Gap Index (GGI)GGI measures gender differences in economic participation and opportunitySource: World Economic Forum (WEF)

FeasibilityHighData published annuallyImproves gender-sensitivity

Bickey77Credit AccessRecommendationNew indicator

RationaleCapital access vital to business start-up & growthFemale entrepreneurs particularly rely on creditFemale entrepreneurs are constrained in terms access to creditCurrent Start-Up indicator assumes high capital access Andrew88Credit AccessDescription and DataMeasure: domestic credit provided by banking sector Includes gross credit provided by financial institutionsNot sex-disaggregatedRaises prominence of issue particularly important to womenSource: World Bank World Development Indicators

FeasibilityHighRegularly measured as part of WDI

Andrew99Gender-Responsive Budgeting (GRB)RecommendationNew indicatorSupplement MCCs existing Fiscal Policy indicator

RationaleGender-differentiated needs and priorities ensure resources allocated efficientlyEnsure fundamental equality in health and educationCurrent MCC macroeconomic indicators not gender-sensitive due to reporting mechanismsLydia1010Gender-Responsive Budgeting (GRB)Description and DataMeasure: percentage of parliamentary seats in Single or Lower chamber occupied by womenWomens political empowerment: precondition for GRBSource: UN Statistics Division

FeasibilityNo international orgs keeping track of all GRB initiativesWomens limited political empowerment

Lydia1111Land Rights and AccessRecommendationModified existing indicatorCurrent indicator:50% measures rural land use50% measures peri-urban land use (for business)

Rationale Increase in household wealth & business/agricultural investmentCurrently: equally values very specific peri-urban measures with general measures of land rightsKelly1212Land Rights and AccessDescription and DataReweight indicator components Rural: 75% Source: International Fund for Agricultural Development (no change)Peri-urban: 25%Source: International Finance Corporation (no change)Rural measures better proxy for general land rights & accessRural measures likely to become more gender-sensitive

FeasibilityHighEasy to implement with no change in data sourcesKelly1313Natural Resource Management (NRM)RecommendationModified existing indicatorCurrent indicator considers four measures Eco-region Protection, Access to Improved Sanitation, Access to Improved Water, Under-5 Child Mortality

RationaleWomens different needs and prioritiesBetter womens health outcomesCurrent MCC indicator not strong in measuring outcomesUnder-5 Child Mortality not sex-disaggregatedLydia1414Natural Resource Management (NRM)Description and DataRetain: eco-region protection, access to improved sanitation, access to improved waterNew measure: environmentally-related diseases mortality rate Infectious and parasitic disease, respiratory infections, COPDReport separately for men and womenSource: WHO Global InfoBaseNew measure: healthy life expectancy at birth Replace under-5 child mortality rateSource: UN Statistics Division

FeasibilityHighLydia1515Womens HealthRecommendationNew indicatorSupplement MCCs current health indicators

RationaleMaternal health services fewer maternal deathsReproductive health services lower fertility ratesMCCs health indicators lack sex-disaggregated dataMariah1616Womens HealthDescription and DataMeasure: percent births attended by skilled personnelMeasure of maternal health servicesSource: UNICEFMeasure: unmet need for family planningMeasure of reproductive health servicesSource: UN Population Fund

FeasibilityHighMCC already considers maternal health measureBoth measures tracked by MDGMariah1717Primary School ExpendituresRecommendationModified existing indicatorCurrent indicator measures total primary school expenditures

RationaleEducation for girls positively impacts other areas of economic developmentGirls access to schools improved through specific expendituresKelly1818Primary School ExpendituresDescription and DataRetain: total expenditures on primary schoolNew measure: percentage of teachers who are femaleSource: World Bank: World Development IndicatorsNew measure: transportation provision for educationSource: Country-reported

FeasibilityModerateSelf-reporting not as reliableKelly1919Girls Secondary School EnrollmentRecommendationNew indicatorReplace Girls Primary Education Completion Rate

RationaleSecondary school improved earning potentialSecondary school desirable social outcomesWage & non-wage returns higher at secondary levelMCC indicator gender-biased, not gender-sensitiveMariah2020Girls Secondary School EnrollmentDescription and DataMeasures:Girls secondary school enrollment rateGender parity in secondary school enrollmentSource: UNESCOs Institute for Statistics

FeasibilityHighMeasure already tracked by EFA and MDGsUnique, only recommendation that moves the bar

Mariah2121ConclusionAdditionsCredit AccessGender-Responsive BudgetingWomens HealthGirls Secondary School Enrollment

ModificationsBusiness Start-UpLand Rights & AccessNatural Resource ManagementPrimary Education ExpendituresAndrew22222323

2424Table P1. Analysis of Gender-Sensitive Instruments for Economic GrowthProposed Policy InstrumentProposed ChangeMCCCriteriaImpact of PolicyFeasibility

Economic GrowthGender Sensitivity

Business Start-Up*Modified MCCStrongUnclearModerate to HighHigh

Labor Force Participation and Wages

Credit AccessNew Credit Access indicatorStrongModerateModerateHigh

Gender-Responsive BudgetingNew GRB indicatorModerateModerate to BigHighModerate

Land Rights and Access*Modified MCCModerateto StrongModerateHighHigh

Natural Resource Management*Modified MCCStrongModerateModerateHigh

Primary Education Expenditures*Modified MCCModerateModerate to BigHighModerate

Girls Primary Completion Rate*Replace MCC with Secondary Enrollment indicatorStrongBigHighHigh

Girls Secondary Education Enrollment Rate

Maternal Health ServicesNew Womens Health indicatorModerateBigHighHigh

Reproductive Health Services