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Empowering women : evidence from a field experiment in Afghanistan

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  • Beath, Andrew
  • Christia, Fotini
  • Enikolopov, Ruben

Abstract

In societies with widespread gender discrimination, development programs that encourage female participation in local governance can potentially redress gender imbalances in economic, political, and social outcomes. Using a randomized field experiment encompassing 500 Afghan villages, this study finds that a development program which incorporates mandated female participation increases female mobility and involvement in income generation, but does not change female roles in family decision-making or attitudes toward the general role of women in society.

Suggested Citation

  • Beath, Andrew & Christia, Fotini & Enikolopov, Ruben, 2012. "Empowering women : evidence from a field experiment in Afghanistan," Policy Research Working Paper Series 6269, The World Bank.
    • Handle: RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:6269
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Xue, Melanie Meng, 2018. "High-Value Work and the Rise of Women: The Cotton Revolution and Gender Equality in China," MPRA Paper 91100, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    2. Beath, Andrew & Christia, Fotini & Enikolopov, Ruben, 2013. "Do elected councils improve governance ? experimental evidence on local institutions in Afghanistan," Policy Research Working Paper Series 6510, The World Bank.
    3. Andrew Beath & Fotini Christia & Georgy Egorov & Ruben Enikolopov, 2016. "Electoral Rules and Political Selection: Theory and Evidence from a Field Experiment in Afghanistan," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 83(3), pages 932-968.
    4. Andrew Beath & Fotini Christia & Georgy Egorov & Ruben Enikolopov, 2014. "Electoral Rules and the Quality of Politicians: Theory and Evidence from a Field Experiment in Afghanistan," NBER Working Papers 20082, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    5. Jawad Haqbeen & Sofia Sahab & Takayuki Ito & Paola Rizzi, 2021. "Using Decision Support System to Enable Crowd Identify Neighborhood Issues and Its Solutions for Policy Makers: An Online Experiment at Kabul Municipal Level," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(10), pages 1-34, May.
    6. King, Elisabeth & Samii, Cyrus, 2014. "Fast-Track Institution Building in Conflict-Affected Countries? Insights from Recent Field Experiments," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 740-754.
    7. Hugh Waddington & Jennifer Stevenson & Ada Sonnenfeld & Marie Gaarder, 2018. "PROTOCOL: Participation, inclusion, transparency and accountability (PITA) to improve public services in low‐ and middle‐income countries: a systematic review," Campbell Systematic Reviews, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 14(1), pages 1-69.
    8. Adeline Delavande & Basit Zafar, 2013. "Gender discrimination and social identity: experimental evidence from urban Pakistan," Staff Reports 593, Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
    9. Hugh Waddington & Ada Sonnenfeld & Juliette Finetti & Marie Gaarder & Denny John & Jennifer Stevenson, 2019. "Citizen engagement in public services in low‐ and middle‐income countries: A mixed‐methods systematic review of participation, inclusion, transparency and accountability (PITA) initiatives," Campbell Systematic Reviews, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 15(1-2), June.
    10. Beath,Andrew & Christia,Fotini & Enikolopov,Ruben & Beath,Andrew & Christia,Fotini & Enikolopov,Ruben, 2012. "Winning hearts and minds through development ? evidence from a field experiment in Afghanistan," Policy Research Working Paper Series 6129, The World Bank.

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    Keywords

    Gender and Law; Gender and Health; Housing&Human Habitats; Anthropology; Gender and Development;
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