How gendered institutions constrain women’s empowerment

Abstract

Since the 1980s, gender policies at the international level have emphasized women’s participation in the economy. In particular, international gender policies tend to concentrate on the promotion of women’s access to resources, such as jobs, education, land, other assets, and credit. Recent literature acknowledges that women’s empowerment involves more than access to resources but also implies agency and an enabling institutional context, which together help women to achieve better well-being (Kabeer, 2001; Narayan, 2005a; Alsop et al., 2006; Ibrahim and Alkire, 2007). In light of the recent literature on women’s empowerment, this chapter undertakes an innovative exploratory analysis of the role of resources relative to women’s agency, captured by gendered institutions that limit this agency. Non-market institutions that constrain women’s economic position as well as economic development in general are measured, like all other variables, at the macro level.