IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/unu/wpaper/rp2006-115.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Gender and the Distribution of Wealth in Developing Countries

Author

Listed:
  • Carmen Diana Deere
  • Cheryl R. Doss

Abstract

Only recently has it been recognized that women may not share in the wealth of men, even within the same household or family. Moreover, there is growing evidence that the gender distribution of wealth matters. This paper first reviews the available evidence for developing countries on the gender asset gap and finds that it is significant. It then considers the constraints on women's asset ownership with particular attention to the role of legal marital and inheritance regimes.

Suggested Citation

  • Carmen Diana Deere & Cheryl R. Doss, 2006. "Gender and the Distribution of Wealth in Developing Countries," WIDER Working Paper Series RP2006-115, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    • Handle: RePEc:unu:wpaper:rp2006-115
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.wider.unu.edu/sites/default/files/rp2006-115.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Esther Duflo, 2003. "Grandmothers and Granddaughters: Old-Age Pensions and Intrahousehold Allocation in South Africa," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 17(1), pages 1-25, June.
    2. Panda, Pradeep & Agarwal, Bina, 2005. "Marital violence, human development and women's property status in India," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 33(5), pages 823-850, May.
    3. Rocheleau, Dianne & Edmunds, David, 1997. "Women, men and trees: Gender, power and property in forest and agrarian landscapes," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 25(8), pages 1351-1371, August.
    4. Carmen Diana Deere & Rosa Luz Durán & Merrilee Mardon & Tom Masterson, 2004. "Female Land Rights and Rural Household Incomes in Brazil, Paraguay and Peru," UMASS Amherst Economics Working Papers 2004-08, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Department of Economics.
    5. Rania Antonopoulos & Maria Sagrario Floro, 2005. "Asset Ownership along Gender Lines: Evidence from Thailand," Economics Working Paper Archive wp_418, Levy Economics Institute.
    6. Ingrid Yngstrom, 2002. "Women, Wives and Land Rights in Africa: Situating Gender Beyond the Household in the Debate Over Land Policy and Changing Tenure Systems," Oxford Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 30(1), pages 21-40.
    7. Carmen Diana Deere & Cheryl Doss, 2006. "The Gender Asset Gap: What Do We Know And Why Does It Matter?," Feminist Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 12(1-2), pages 1-50.
    8. M. Fafchamps & A. R. Quisumbing, 2002. "Control and Ownership of Assets Within Rural Ethiopian Households," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 38(6), pages 47-82.
    9. Agnes R. Quisumbing & John A. Maluccio, 2003. "Resources at Marriage and Intrahousehold Allocation: Evidence from Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Indonesia, and South Africa," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 65(3), pages 283-327, July.
    10. Platteau, J.P. & Baland, J.M., 1998. "Impartible Inheritance Versus Equal Division: a Comparative Perspective C entered on Europe and Subsaharan Africa," Papers 209, Notre-Dame de la Paix, Sciences Economiques et Sociales.
    11. Markus Goldstein & Christopher Udry, 2008. "The Profits of Power: Land Rights and Agricultural Investment in Ghana," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 116(6), pages 981-1022, December.
    12. Cheryl Doss, 2006. "The Effects of Intrahousehold Property Ownership on Expenditure Patterns in Ghana," Journal of African Economies, Centre for the Study of African Economies, vol. 15(1), pages 149-180, March.
    13. Namita Datta, 2006. "Joint Titling — A Win-Win Policy? Gender And Property Rights In Urban Informal Settlements In Chandigarh, India," Feminist Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 12(1-2), pages 271-298.
    14. de Janvry, Alain & Gordillo, Gustavo & Sadoulet, Elisabeth & Platteau, Jean-Philippe (ed.), 2001. "Access to Land, Rural Poverty, and Public Action," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780199242177.
    15. Rania Antonopoulos & Maria S. Floro, 2005. "Asset Ownership Along Gender Lines: Evidence from Thailand," Journal of Income Distribution, Ad libros publications inc., vol. 13(3-4), pages 4-4, November.
    16. Deere, Carmen Diana & Leon, Magdalena, 2003. "The Gender Asset Gap: Land in Latin America," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 31(6), pages 925-947, June.
    17. Bina Agarwal, 1997. "''Bargaining'' and Gender Relations: Within and Beyond the Household," Feminist Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 3(1), pages 1-51.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Hannah Pieters & Andrea Guariso & Anneleen Vandeplas, 2013. "Conceptual framework for the analysis of the determinants of food and nutrition security," FOODSECURE Working papers 13, LEI Wageningen UR.
    2. Holden, Stein & Bezu, Sosina, 2013. "Joint Land Certification and Intra-household Decision-making:Towards Empowerment of Wives?," CLTS Working Papers 14/13, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Centre for Land Tenure Studies, revised 10 Oct 2019.
    3. Sumon Kumar Bhaumik & Ralitza Dimova & Ira N. Gang, 2016. "Is Women’s Ownership of Land a Panacea in Developing Countries? Evidence from Land-Owning Farm Households in Malawi," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 52(2), pages 242-253, February.
    4. Yang Yang, 2023. "Hukou Identity and Economic Behaviours: A Social Identity Perspective," Erudite Ph.D Dissertations, Erudite, number ph23-02 edited by Catherine Bros & Julie Lochard.
    5. Goh, Amelia H. X., 2012. "A literature review of the gender-differentiated impacts of climate change on women's and men's assets and well-being in developing countries:," CAPRi working papers 106, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    6. Holden, Stein & Bezu, Sosina, 2014. "Joint Land Certification, Gendered Preferences, and Land-related Decisions: Are Wives Getting More Involved?," CLTS Working Papers 6/14, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Centre for Land Tenure Studies, revised 10 Oct 2019.
    7. Christian Rogg, 2006. "Asset Portfolios in Africa: Evidence from Rural Ethiopia," WIDER Working Paper Series RP2006-145, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    8. Amber Peterman, 2011. "Women's Property Rights and Gendered Policies: Implications for Women's Long-term Welfare in Rural Tanzania," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 47(1), pages 1-30.
    9. Kathryn Sproule & Caitlin Kieran & Agnes Quisumbing & Cheryl Doss, 2015. "Gender, Headship, and the Life Cycle: Landownership in Four Asian Countries," Working Papers id:7807, eSocialSciences.
    10. Ruth Evans, 2015. "HIV-related stigma, asset inheritance and chronic poverty: Vulnerability and resilience of widows and caregiving children and youth in Tanzania and Uganda," Progress in Development Studies, , vol. 15(4), pages 326-342, October.
    11. Holden, Stein T. & Ali, Daniel & Deininger, Klaus & Hilhorst, Thea, 2016. "A Land Tenure Module for LSMS," CLTS Working Papers 1/16, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Centre for Land Tenure Studies, revised 16 Oct 2019.
    12. Madhav Prasad Dahal, 2017. "Do Female Education and Ownership of Asset Matter for Poverty Reduction in Nepal?," Journal of Development Innovations, KarmaQuest International, vol. 1(2), pages 58-85, October.
    13. Giovanni D�Alessio, 2018. "Gender wealth gap in Italy," Questioni di Economia e Finanza (Occasional Papers) 433, Bank of Italy, Economic Research and International Relations Area.
    14. Adelman, Sarah & Peterman, Amber, 2014. "Resettlement and Gender Dimensions of Land Rights in Post-Conflict Northern Uganda," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 583-596.
    15. Riithi, Alexander Njuguna & Irungu, Patrick & Munei , Kimpei, 2015. "Determinants Of Choice Of Alternative Livelihood Diversification Strategies In Solio Resettlement Scheme, Kenya," Dissertations and Theses 269714, University of Nairobi, Department of Agricultural Economics.
    16. repec:kqi:journl:2017-2-4 is not listed on IDEAS
    17. Muzhingi, Tawanda & Langyintuo, Augustine S. & Malaba, Lucie C. & Banziger, Marianne, 2008. "Consumer acceptability of yellow maize products in Zimbabwe," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 33(4), pages 352-361, August.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Meinzen-Dick, Ruth Suseela & Johnson, Nancy & Quisumbing, Agnes R. & Njuki, Jemimah & Behrman, Julia A. & Rubin, Deborah & Peterman, Amber & Waithanji, Elizabeth, 2011. "Gender, assets, and agricultural development programs: A conceptual framework:," CAPRi working papers 99, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    2. Carmen Diana Deere & Cheryl Doss, 2006. "The Gender Asset Gap: What Do We Know And Why Does It Matter?," Feminist Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 12(1-2), pages 1-50.
    3. Vijaya, Ramya M. & Lahoti, Rahul & Swaminathan, Hema, 2014. "Moving from the Household to the Individual: Multidimensional Poverty Analysis," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 70-81.
    4. Meinzen-Dick, Ruth & Quisumbing, Agnes & Doss, Cheryl & Theis, Sophie, 2019. "Women's land rights as a pathway to poverty reduction: Framework and review of available evidence," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 172(C), pages 72-82.
    5. Doss, Cheryl, 2013. "Intrahousehold bargaining and resource allocation in developing countries," Policy Research Working Paper Series 6337, The World Bank.
    6. Meinzen-Dick, Ruth Suseela & Quisumbing, Agnes R. & Doss, Cheryl R. & Theis, Sophie, 2017. "Women’s land rights as a pathway to poverty reduction: A framework and review of available evidence," IFPRI discussion papers 1663, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    7. Lambrecht, Isabel, 2016. "“As a husband I will love, lead, and provide:†Gendered access to land in Ghana:," IFPRI discussion papers 1514, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    8. Morton, Gregory Duff, 2019. "The power of lump sums: Using maternity payment schedules to reduce the gender asset gap in households reached by Brazil’s Bolsa Família conditional cash transfer," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 113(C), pages 352-367.
    9. Muntaha Rakib & Julia Anna Matz, 2016. "The Impact of Shocks on Gender-differentiated Asset Dynamics in Bangladesh," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 52(3), pages 377-395, March.
    10. Katrina Kosec & Kamiljon Akramov & Bakhrom Mirkasimov & Jie Song & Hongdi Zhao, 2022. "Aspirations and women's empowerment: Evidence from Kyrgyzstan," Economics of Transition and Institutional Change, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 30(1), pages 101-134, January.
    11. Weeratunge, N. & Chiuta, T.M. & Choudhury, A. & Ferrer, A. & Hüsken, S.M.C. & Kura, Y. & Kusakabe, K. & Madzudzo, E. & Maetala, R. & Naved, R. & Schwarz, A. & Kantor, P., 2012. "Transforming aquatic agricultural systems towards gender equality: a five country review," Monographs, The WorldFish Center, number 39966, April.
    12. Feyertag, Joseph & Childress, Malcolm & Langdown, Ian & Locke, Anna & Nizalov, Denys, 2021. "How does gender affect the perceived security of land and property rights? Evidence from 33 countries," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 104(C).
    13. Greta Friedemann-Sánchez, 2012. "Legal Literacy and Immovable Property: Laws, Norms and Practices in Colombia," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 43(6), pages 1361-1384, November.
    14. Lambrecht, Isabel Brigitte, 2016. "“As a Husband I Will Love, Lead, and Provide.” Gendered Access to Land in Ghana," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 88(C), pages 188-200.
    15. Carmen Diana Deere & Gina E. Alvarado & Jennifer Twyman, 2012. "Gender Inequality in Asset Ownership in Latin America: Female Owners vs Household Heads," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 43(2), pages 505-530, March.
    16. Matthias Doepke & Michèle Tertilt, 2019. "Does female empowerment promote economic development?," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 24(4), pages 309-343, December.
    17. Menon, Nidhiya & van der Meulen Rodgers, Yana & Nguyen, Huong, 2014. "Women’s Land Rights and Children’s Human Capital in Vietnam," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 18-31.
    18. Deininger, Klaus & Hilhorst, Thea & Songwe, Vera, 2014. "Identifying and addressing land governance constraints to support intensification and land market operation: Evidence from 10 African countries," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 76-87.
    19. Dokken, Therere, 2013. "Land tenure in Tigray: How large is the gender bias?," CLTS Working Papers 5/13, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Centre for Land Tenure Studies, revised 10 Oct 2019.
    20. Hallward-Driemeier, Mary & Gajigo, Ousman, 2015. "Strengthening Economic Rights and Women’s Occupational Choice: The Impact of Reforming Ethiopia’s Family Law," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 260-273.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:unu:wpaper:rp2006-115. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Siméon Rapin (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/widerfi.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.