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An Investigation into the Reported Closing of the Nicaraguan Gender Gap

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  • Alan Piper

    (Europa-Universität Flensburg)

Abstract

For the last 5 years, the World Economic Forum’s annual Global Gender Gap Index has been reporting that Nicaragua is one of the most gender equal countries in the world. This is the culmination of a remarkable increase in gender equality in Nicaragua during the past decade, charted by the same index. This paper discusses the Index and the Nicaraguan context and then refers to the results of several waves of the Latinobarometer to investigate whether the change in gender equality has affected Nicaraguans’ (and particularly Nicaraguan women’s) perceptions of their lives. The underlying question is therefore whether satisfaction with life, and opinions about gender equality have, for Nicaraguans, altered between the period when Nicaragua was placed low on the gender equality ranking to when it had attained a high rating on the index just a few years later. The findings, which come from ordered probit regression analysis, reveal slight evidence of improvements over this time period and emphasise the importance of economic fundamentals.

Suggested Citation

  • Alan Piper, 2019. "An Investigation into the Reported Closing of the Nicaraguan Gender Gap," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 144(3), pages 1391-1413, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:soinre:v:144:y:2019:i:3:d:10.1007_s11205-019-02080-5
    DOI: 10.1007/s11205-019-02080-5
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    Cited by:

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    2. Lahsen, Amina. A & Piper, Alan T., 2018. "Property Rights and Intellectual Property Protection, GDP growth and Well-Being in Latin America," MPRA Paper 90034, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    3. Lorraine Eden & M. Fernanda Wagstaff, 2021. "Evidence-based policymaking and the wicked problem of SDG 5 Gender Equality," Journal of International Business Policy, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 4(1), pages 28-57, March.
    4. Lorraine Eden & M. Fernanda Wagstaff, 0. "Evidence-based policymaking and the wicked problem of SDG 5 Gender Equality," Journal of International Business Policy, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 0, pages 1-30.
    5. Jantsch, Antje & Piper, Alan, 2024. "An investigation into the relationship between town size and well-being in Latin America and the role of education," MPRA Paper 120565, University Library of Munich, Germany.
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Nicaragua; Gender equality; Global Gender Gap Index; Life satisfaction; Latinobarometer;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I31 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - General Welfare, Well-Being
    • N36 - Economic History - - Labor and Consumers, Demography, Education, Health, Welfare, Income, Wealth, Religion, and Philanthropy - - - Latin America; Caribbean

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