IN HER NAME: MEASURING THE GENDER ASSET GAP
Preliminary Results from Karnataka
Hema Swaminathan, Suchitra JY, Rahul Lahoti
Centre for Public Policy
Indian Institute of Management BangaloreAnnual Bank Conference on Development Economics
Paris, France, May 30, 2011
Project description
• Indian Institute of Management Bangalore; University of Ghana; the Latin American Faculty of Social Sciences, Ecuador; University of Florida (USA); & American University (USA)
• Supported by Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs under the MDG3 Fund for gender equality
• Qualitative field work, large-scale household survey of all forms of physical/financial assets
Project objectives
• Demonstrate feasibility and importance of collecting data on women’s access to and ownership of property
• Identify minimal questions needed to understand the gender asset and wealth gaps in various settings
• Develop a replicable survey instrument
Karnataka Household Assets Survey, 2010-2011• State-representative; more than 4,000 households
• Up to two individuals interviewed per household, one male and one female, primary and secondary respondents
• Asset inventory of household – all physical assets – individual ownership details and value of asset
• For respondents, information on rights and decision-making powers over assets owned, modes of acquisition, and financial assets
• Household decision making, marital and inheritance regimes, economic shocks, psychological well-being, and consumption expenditure
Gender patterns of asset ownership
• Forms of asset ownership by sex (individual, joint)
• Gender asset and wealth gaps– Incidence of asset ownership by sex (% of adult pop)
– Distribution of asset ownership by sex (% of total owners)
– Share of total value of assets by sex
Forms of asset ownership, rural
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
% Ind male % Ind female % All HH members
Distribution of owners, urban 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Residence
Ag. land
O. real estate
N-f business
Vehicles
Jewellery
Cell phone
34%
19%
25%
26%
35%
68%
44%
% Male owners % Female owners
Distribution and wealth gaps, urban
0% 50% 100%
28%
10%
11%
2%
25%
75%
34%
% Male share % Female share
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Residence
Ag. land
O. real estate
N-f business
Vehicles
Jewellery
Cell phone
34%
19%
25%
26%
35%
68%
44%
% Male owners % Female owners
Distribution of owners, rural
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Residence
Ag. land
O. real estate
N-f business
Vehicles
Jewellery
Cell phone
28%
20%
26%
35%
41%
69%
41%
% Male owners % Female owners
Distribution and wealth gaps, rural
0% 50% 100%
Residence
Ag. land
O. real estate
N-f business
Vehicles
Jewellery
Cell phone
28%
20%
26%
35%
41%
69%
41%
% Male owners % Female owners
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
24%
12%
22%
13%
20%
81%
26%
% Male share % Female Share
How are assets acquired? Place of residence Urban Rural
0
10
20
30
40
50
6058
1 0
28
1013
18
26 26
12
% Male owners % Female owners
05
101520253035404550
49
2 0
44
2
15
2528
25
3
% Male owners % Female owners
Agricultural plots, rural
Primary Secondary
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90 84
0 0
13
0
16
41
5
16
4
% Male owners % Female owners
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90 85
1 0
92
13
25
44
83
% Male owners % Female owners
Concluding thoughts
• Collecting individual-level asset is feasible
• Collect incidence-based and valuation data
• Substantial gender disparities exist
• Unequal opportunities for asset accumulation