Integrating Gender into Benefit Incidence and Demand Analysis

Cornell Food and Nutrition Policy Program Working Paper No. 167

172 Pages Posted: 16 Sep 2004

See all articles by Peter Glick

Peter Glick

RAND Corporation

Rumki Saha

Cornell University - Food and Nutrition Policy Program

Stephen D. Younger

Tulane University - CEQ Institute

Date Written: May 2004

Abstract

This report addresses two questions: To what extent does public spending mitigate or exacerbate gender inequities in welfare in developing countries? How can existing allocations of public expenditure be changed to improve gender equity in the use of services such as health and education? It does this through a detailed review and interpretation of the existing literature and through primary analyses on a large sample of developing country data sets. Regarding the first question, we integrate gender considerations into standard benefit incidence analysis, and address in particular the issue of whether and how gender gaps in benefits vary across the income distribution. The second question is addressed through gender-disaggregated econometric analysis of the demand for public services, including health care, education, and water. The paper also sets out the appropriate methodologies for integrating gender into benefit incidence analysis and for comparing impacts by gender of policies affecting the demand for services. The main lesson drawn from the empirical analysis - as well as from a careful reading of the existing literature - is that gender differences in the use of services, and the response of these gaps to changes in incomes and policies, are not universal and do not always occur where they might be most expected. Therefore, they need to be investigated on a case by case basis.

Keywords: Benefit incidence, gender, education, health care, time allocation, discrete choice analysis

Suggested Citation

Glick, Peter and Saha, Rumki and Younger, Stephen D., Integrating Gender into Benefit Incidence and Demand Analysis (May 2004). Cornell Food and Nutrition Policy Program Working Paper No. 167, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=590822 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.590822

Peter Glick (Contact Author)

RAND Corporation ( email )

1200 South Hayes Street
Arlington, VA 22202
United States

Rumki Saha

Cornell University - Food and Nutrition Policy Program ( email )

3M12 MVR Hall
Ithaca, NY 14853
United States

Stephen D. Younger

Tulane University - CEQ Institute ( email )

6823 St Charles Ave
New Orleans, LA 70118
United States

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