The MIMAP Gender Network Research Agenda

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The MIMAP Gender Network Research
Agenda Presentation for the GDN Panel Discussion
on Gender and Economic Reforms, 30 January 2004
by Prof. Swapna Mukhopadhyay Project
Director, MIMAP Gender Network Institute of
Social Studies Trust New Delhi, India
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IMPACT OF ECONOMIC REFORMS ON GENDER A RESEARCH
AGENDA

• Systematic research in the area is relatively
  rare. Reasons could be many. These could involve

• Problem of counterfactuals common to most
  analyses of policy impact.

• Inherent complexities of transmission processes,
  common to all similar research questions.

• Additional problems of identifying macro-micro
  linkages in the area of gender problems of
  data, of available models, and of estimation
  methods.

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MIMAP Gender Network Project in South and SE Asia

• A network of gender researchers and research
  organizations in the region working within a
  coordinated research agenda.

• Project has been designed, coordinated and
  monitored by the Institute of Social Studies
  Trust (ISST), India and sponsored by the
  International development research Centre (IDRC)
  of Canada under its Micro Impact of Macro
  Adjustment Policies (MIMAP) Program Initiative.

• The first phase of the project got off the ground
  in January 1999. The third phase is about to
  begin.

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Research Agenda of the MIMAP Gender Network A
birds eye view
Institute of Social Studies Trust, January 2004
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Research methodology and research design

• Use of both qualitative and quantitative methods.

• Simultaneous analysis at the micro, meso and
  macro levels.

• Fostering linkages across levels of analysis.

• Research results from earlier phases are fed into
  research questions in subsequent phases.

• Designing sub-projects with a view to facilitate
  inter-country comparability.

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Defining gender

• Gender is a social construct

• It is a relational concept

• It is a latent variable unobserved and
  unobservable

• Much of gender analysis is carried out in terms
  of various gender indicators which are perceived
  as multi-dimensional manifestations of gender
  bias.

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Conventional gender indicators

• Social, economic, political, demographic, etc.

• Problem of indexation, which can be acute for
  gender analysis in many contexts, where different
  indicators may pull in different directions under
  different situations and contexts

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Mapping Conventional on Non-Conventional
Indicators of Status of Women
Conventional Indicators
Non-Conventional Indicators
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Non-conventional Gender Indicators

• Search for relatively non-contextual gender
  indicators Gender-based stress, anxiety and
  violence (and the credible threat of violence).

• Subjective Well-being Indicator (SUBI) and
  General Health Questionnaire (GHQ)

• Canvassed within all household surveys and
  results analysed using standard multi-variate
  methods.

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Selected findings
Household surveys

• The impact of changes in household economic
  conditions can have very different impact on men
  and women from the same households.

• Economic reforms at the macro level may induce
  significantly different kinds of changes in the
  levels of mental well-being and labour use
  patterns of men and women, not merely outside but
  also within the households.

• Men and women within the same households can
  react very differently to different indicators
  or manifestations of poverty.

• Men and women can have significantly different
  perceptions about changes in external economic
  environments, especially on perceptions about
  gender roles.

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Macroeconomic / CGE models

• It is possible to incorporate the domestic sector
  within standard macro econometric models and
  derive gendered implications of economic policy
  changes for different kinds of households in the
  economy.

• With some effort and imagination, it is also
  possible to get some mileage in these matters
  even from standard macro econometric model
  structures by using available gender
  disaggregated data.

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Policy issues

• General economic policy reforms are rarely
  gender neutral, although it may be difficult to
  assess their exact nature.

• These are likely to have much greater overall
  impact on women as compared to targeted gender
  policy reforms, which generally have very small
  outreach, and often tend to backfire.

• What is needed is intelligently designed gender
  policy instruments, coupled with systematic
  measures to assess the gendered impact of macro
  policies in general. This needs vigilance,
  sensitivity and a thorough understanding of
  ground conditions.

• Instruments of gender policy should have in-built
  strategies for handling resistance from
  entrenched social power structures.

• State and civil society need to join hands to
  ensure a life of dignity for all individuals, men
  and women.