gender equality in the context of the development process. The report provides a useful framework based on three pillars—endowments, access to economic opportunities, and agency—to understand the sources of differences in outcomes among men and women. Within this framework, the report covers a broad range of issues, from health, education, and fertility to land ownership, labor markets, and access to new technologies. Aspects of the framework of the World Development Report guide the analysis in our report. Chapter 1, on human capital, looks at a narrower range of endowments rather than the broader range of assets such as land. Chapters 2 and 3, on the labor market and on entrepreneurship, respectively, provide information on access to economic opportunities. However, our report does not cover agency, that is, women’s capacity to make independent decisions
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and enjoy freedom of choice. This shortcoming is caused by the quantitative focus of this report and the lack of regionwide data. However, agency is an important topic, and encouraging work in this area is essential to obtaining an in-depth understanding of the reasons behind the outcomes observed. (Chapter 4 summarizes the main findings of our report.) This report is a small contribution to our understanding of gender issues in the Europe and Central Asia Region. It does not pretend to cover all important topics even in the areas of human capital, labor markets, and entrepreneurship. Rather, it aspires to set the groundwork for more in-depth analysis at the country level of the differing outcomes among men and women and to encourage a dialogue about the related medium- and long-term implications for sustained economic development and welfare improvements.
Opportunities for Men and Women: Emerging Europe and Central Asia