Gender inequality continues to be more persistent across societies than any other form of inequality. According to the 2020 UN Human Development Report, no country has reached low inequality in human development without reducing the loss coming from gender inequality. Acknowledging the limitations of existing indexes in measuring comparative country performances in reducing gender inequality, this study proposes a new composite index and an empirical methodology, Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA), for measuring G20 countries’ comparative performance in reducing gender inequality in human development between 2014 and 2020. The DEA method enables better measuring the main weaknesses of countries regarding specific gender indicators and identifies potential role model capabilities among a group of countries. As an informal grouping, the G20 countries began to set yearly commitments to achieving gender equality as of 2012. Its mission statement of “globalization work for all” also took place in 2013. Therefore, G20 is a crucial platform for empirically analyzing the achievements of developed and developing world in reducing gender inequality in development. We also aim to contribute to research on better measuring gender development by proposing a new quantitative methodology for comparative analyses of the specific gender-related indicators through an analysis of G20 countries.
You can access the full version of this article via this link; https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12115-023-00861-w
References
Andersen P, Christian PN (1993) A procedure for ranking efficient units in Data Envelopment Analysis. Management Science 39(10):1261–1264.
Amin E, Sabermahani A (2017) Gender Inequality Index Appropriateness for Measuring Inequality. Journal of Evidence-Informed Social Work 14(1):8-18.
Azcona G, Bhatt A (2020) Inequality, gender, and sustainable development: Measuring feminist Progress. Gender and Development 28(2):337-355.
Beetham G, Demetriades J (2007) Feminist research methodologies and development: overview and practical application. Gender and Development 15(2):199-216.
Brown A (2006) WID and GAD in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania: Reappraising Gender Planning Approaches in Theory and Practice. Journal of Women, Politics, and Policy 28(2): 57-83.
Browne S, Weiss T (2014) Emerging powers and the UN development system: canvassing global views. Third World Quarterly 35(10):1894-1910.
Bush, SS (2011) International Politics and the Spread of Quotas for Women in Legislatures. International Organization 65:103-137.
Bruce R, Cavgias A, Meloni L, Remígio M (2022) Under pressure: Women’s leadership during the COVID-19 crisis. Journal of Development Economics 154:1027-61.
Carlsen L (2020) Gender inequality and development. Sustainability Science 15:759–780.
Chaaban J (2009) Measuring Youth Development: A Nonparametric Cross-Country Youth Welfare Index. Social Indicators Research 93(2):351–358.
Cohen DK, Sabrina K (2021) Does More Equality for Women Mean Less War? Rethinking Sex and Gender Inequality and Political Violence. International Organization 76(2):414-444.
Connell A, Holder A, Kearney H (2020) Equal Measures 2030: A new approach for advocacy and influencing beyond Beijing +25. Gender and Development 28(2):405-423.
Cornwall A, Rivas AM (2015) From ‘gender equality and ‘women’s empowerment to global justice: reclaiming a transformative agenda for gender and development. Third World Quarterly 36(2):396-415.
Cooper W, Seiford L, Tone K. (2007) Data Envelopment Analysis a comprehensive text with models, applications, references, and DEA- solver software. New York: Springer.
Craig M (1996) Seeing women, recognizing gender, recasting international relations. International Organization 50:513-538.
Debusscher P (2012) Mainstreaming Gender in European Union Development Policy in the European Neighborhood. Journal of Women, Politics, and Policy 33(4):322-344.
Deposit D (2005) Measuring human development via Data Envelopment Analysis: the case of Asia and the Pacific. Omega 33(5):385-390.
Francisco JBP, Serrano MD, Casas FMG (2008) An alternative approach to measuring gender inequality. Journal of Gender Studies: 17(4), 369-374.
Fuentes L, Cookson TP (2020) Counting gender (in)equality? A feminist geographical critique of the gender data revolution. Gender, Place, and Culture 27(6):881-902.
Habib LA, Esquivel V, Goetz AM, Sandler J, Sweetman C (2020) Introduction: Gender, development, and Beijing +25. Gender and Development 28(2):223-237.
Holden P (2015) Gender equality, women’s empowerment, and the UN: what is it all about. in Anne, Coles, Leslie Gray, and Janet Momsen ed., The Routledge Handbook of Gender and Development, London: Routledge 551-561.
Kabeer N (2015) Gender, poverty, and inequality: A brief history of feminist contributions in the field of international development. Gender and Development 23(2):189-205.
Kardam N (1987) Social Theory and Women in Development Policy. Women and Politics 7(4):67-82.
Klasen S, Schüler D (2011) Reforming the Gender-Related Development Index and the Gender Empowerment Measure: Implementing Some Specific Proposals. Feminist Economics 17(1):1-30.
Kulik J (2020) G20 Performance on Gender Equality’ G20 Insights Policy Brief, available at https://www.g20-insights.org/policy_briefs/g20-performance-gender-equality/. (16 December 2021).
Krook ML, Jacqui T (2012) Rethinking the life cycles of international norms: The United Nations and the global promotion of gender equality. European Journal of International Relations 18(1):103-127.
Lovell CK, Jesus P (1999) Radial DEA models without inputs or without outputs. European Journal of Operational Research 118(1):46-51.
MacArthur J, Carrard N, Willetts J (2021) Exploring gendered change: concepts and trends in gender equality assessments. Third World Quarterly 42(9):2189-2208.
Marchand MH (2009) The Future of Gender and Development after 9/11: Insights from postcolonial feminism and transnationalism. Third World Quarterly 30(5):921-935.
Momsen JH (2020) Gender and Development, London: Routledge
Olcay ÖA (2021) Expertise at the intersection of technicality and ambiguity: international governance of gender and development. Third World Quarterly 43(1):206-224.
Öniş Z. (2017) The Age of Anxiety: The Crisis of Liberal Democracy in a Post-Hegemonic Global Order, The International Spectator, 52(3):18-35
Peksen D (2019) Pro-market economic policies and women’s economic well-being. Journal of International Relations and Development 22:159–183.
Ramanathan, R. 2003, An Introduction to Data Envelopment Analysis: A Tool for Performance Measurement, Sage Publication
Reig-Martinez E (2013) Social and Economic Well-being in Europe and the Mediterranean Basin: Building an Enlarged Human Development Indicator. Social Indicators Research 111(2):527–547.
Russell L (2015) Beyond traditional understanding of gender measurement: the gender (re)presentation approach. Journal of Gender Studies 24(2):207-226.
Skagerlind HH (2021) Governing development: global performance indicators and gender policy change in Sub-Saharan Africa. Journal of International Relations and Development 24:726–752.
Sweetman C (2020) Introduction: Gender, development, and Beijing +25. Gender and Development 28(2):223-237.
The World Bank- Gender Statistics n.d., available at https://www.worldbank.org/en/data/datatopics/gender (30 August 2021).
Ukhova D (2015) Gender inequality and inter-household economic inequality in emerging economies: exploring the relationship. Gender and Development 23(2):241-259.
UN Human Development Report 2020, available at http://hdr.undp.org/en/2020-report (20 September 2021).
UN Human Development Report, 2014, (http://hdr.undp.org/en/content/human-development-report-2014) Accessed 20 September 2021.
UN Women, Turning Promises into Action: Gender Equality in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, 2018 (https://www.unwomen.org/en/digital-library/sdg-report) Accessed 10 October, 2022
Weiss T (2010) How UN Ideas Changed History. Review of International Studies 36:3–23.
World Economic Forum- Global Gender Gap Report, 2021, available at https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_GGGR_2021.pdf (10 December 2021).