Carmen Diana Deere Center for Latin American Studies and Food
& Resource Economics University of Florida
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Presentation 1. Why assets important for the study of gender
inequality 2. Methodology 3. The Gender Asset Gap 4. The Gender
Wealth Gap 5. Comparative perspectives: Role of marital &
inheritance regimes 6. Tentative conclusions 2
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1. Why Assets? Traditional poverty studies: poverty as lack of
income or consumption a snapshot of a moment in time Asset-based
poverty studies: focus on accumulation of stock of assets over
household life cycle Full definition: physical & financial
capital, natural capital, human capital, social capital Our focus
on physical & financial assets (wealth) 3
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Assets: a Key Component of Well- Being Assets Livelihood
Strategies Full incomes Consumption & Savings
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Physical & Financial Assets 1. Means of production 2. May
generate rent, interest, profit 3. Have current use value or
provide services 4. Serve as collateral for loans 5. Buffer during
emergencies can be pawned, mortgaged, sold 6. Store of wealth can
be passed on to future generations 7. Provide economic security
& reduce probability of falling into chronic poverty 8.
Generate status and social advantage
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The conceptual problem Until recently most asset-based poverty
studies have focused on households But Can we assume that all
members have the same access to household assets? Can we assume
that all members benefit equally from household assets? 6
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Propositions of Feminist Economics Household and individual
welfare not necessarily the same Individual asset ownership related
to: womens well-being their fall-back position: how well off they
would be in case of household dissolution (separation, divorce,
widowhood; choice whether to marry) their bargaining position
within marriage Role in decision-making Inversely related to
domestic violence Less likely to fall into poverty
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The empirical problem Up until recently, few household surveys
collected individual-level information on assets Gender analysis
limited to studying differences between female and male household
heads Inappropriate unit of analysis Headship analysis
underestimates womens ownership of assets since ignores situation
of women in male- headed households (Deere, Alvarado & Twyman
2012)
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2. Methodology Part of 3-country study (Ecuador, Ghana, India)
financed by MDG3 Fund of Dutch Foreign Ministry Ecuador study based
at FLACSO, Quito 6 months of qualitative field work in 3 provinces
(focus groups, key informant interviews, asset market study)
Nationally representative survey of 2,892 households (EAFF 2010)
Truncated: doesnt include the wealthiest Employed both household
and individual-level questionnaires
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The respondents the main adult couple in dual-headed households
(68.5%) the adult male (6.7%) or female (24.8%) in single-headed
households
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Setting- Ecuador divided into 3 regions: sierra, coast &
Amazon
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Setting - Highly urbanized
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Setting - Middle income country
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3. The Gender Asset Gap Different Measures: Distribution of
assets by form of ownership Unit of analysis is the asset 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 household member(s) with
non-household members) Incidence of asset ownership Unit of
analysis is the asset owner Measures % of adult men and women who
own the asset
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Distribution of Assets by Form of Ownership
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Incidence of Ownership by Adults
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4. The Gender Wealth Gap Wealth Data Presented: Market value
Gross rather than net worth Based on reconciliation of Household
and Individual questionnaires + imputed missing values Weighted by
sample expansion factors
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Distribution of Gross Household Wealth by Sex (US$)
AssetMenWomenTotal Physical
assets38,347,264,99643,826,220,22482,173,485,220 %46.753.3100.0
Financial assets1,238,095,052488,741,1592,026,836,211
%61.138.9100.0 Total Gross
Wealth39,585,360,04844,614,961,38284,200,321,430 %47.053.0100.0
Source: EAFF 2010 (rev.)
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Distribution of Asset Wealth by Sex
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The Gendered Composition of Wealth
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Distribution of Household Wealth by Quintiles and Sex
QuintilesTotalMenWomen I y II 3.23.03.3 III 8.1 8.2 IV 20.719.321.9
V 68.069.666.6 Total 100.0 Source: EAFF 2010 (rev.)
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What this means in practice Quintile I or II Quintile IV or
V
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5. Comparative Perspectives on the Gender Wealth Gap
CountryFemale Share of Physical Wealth (%) Ecuador53.0 Ghana30.2
Karnataka, India19.0
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Distribution of Principal Residence by Form of Ownership The
Gender Asset Gap Project Excludes Bangalore
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The Importance of Marital Regimes Determine the rules governing
property during marriage Differ according to how assets acquired
before and during the marriage are treated Types: Separation of
property Partial community property Full community property
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Womens Property Rights in Ecuador Marital Regime: partial
community property Assets acquired prior to marriage Assets
acquired during the marriage Inheritances Individual property Joint
property of the couple Individual property If marriage dissolves,
split 50- 50
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Womens Property Rights in Ghana & India Marital Regime:
separation of property Assets acquired prior to marriage Assets
acquired during the marriage Inheritances Individual property If
marriage dissolves, wives have no claim on husbands property
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Ecuador: Evidence of Relatively Equitable Inheritance
practices
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6. Tentative Conclusions 1. Marital & inheritance regimes
make a difference Women in Ecuador relatively better off because of
joint community property in marriage & gender equitable
inheritance norms 2. Wealth adds a new and important dimension to
the study of gender and social inequality 3. Differing composition
of wealth by quintile suggests new avenues for research and policy
interventions to reduce asset poverty and hence household
vulnerability
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Tentative Conclusions 4. Troubling that female-headed
households concentrated in poorest wealth quintiles Requires
further analysis on whether there BECAUSE lost assets when
relationship dissolved or other factors 5. Overall, hope to have
demonstrated why important to collect individual-level data on
asset ownership and wealth
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Thank you! For the country studies & comparative report
see: http://genderassetgap.iimb.ernet.in