Abstract
The measurement of multidimensional gender inequality is an increasingly important topic that has very relevant policy applications and implications but which has not received much attention from the academic literature. In this paper I make a comprehensive and critical review of the indices proposed in recent years in order to systematise the different underlying ideas. I also present new gender inequality indices that overcome some limitations of the preceding ones. Using United Nations data, empirical results for the new indicators are provided, suggesting that the choice of one indicator or another can make an important difference for the ranking of those countries that have achieved high levels of gender equality.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
Notes
It should be borne in mind that the Gender-related Development Index (GDI) or the Gender Empowerment Measure (GEM) are not measures of gender equality per se [Schüler (2006) shows that this misinterpretation has often taken place in many studies]. The GDI is an index that measures the overall development levels in a given country corrected by the existing gender inequalities. The GEM measures the extent to which women have access to certain levers of power by making “an odd combination of, on the one hand, two variables where relative female power is counted—albeit softened by their harmonic means—, and on the other, one variable in which the absolute income level per capita weighs heavily” [Dijkstra (2002)].
This ease of interpretation is obtained sometimes at the cost of oversimplifying matters too much, since a massive set of information is condensed into a single number. Such simplification process can hide extremely important aspects of the original set of data that should be analysed with care.
References
Atkinson, A. B. (1970). On the measurement of inequality. Journal of Economic Theory, 2, 244–263. doi:10.1016/0022-0531(70)90039-6.
Bardhan, K., & Klasen, S. (1999). UNDP’s gender-related indices: A critical review. World Development, 27(6), 985–1010. doi:10.1016/S0305-750X(99)00035-2.
Beteta, H. C. (2006). What is missing in measures of women’s empowerment? Journal of Human Development, 7(2), 221–241. doi:10.1080/14649880600768553.
Bongaarts, J. (1994). Population policy options in the developing world. Science, 263(5148), 771–776.
Bossert, W., & Pfingsten, A. (1990). Intermediate inequality: Concepts, indices, and welfare implications. Mathematical Social Sciences, 19(2), 117–134. doi:10.1016/0165-4896(90)90055-C.
Bridges, W. (2003). Rethinking gender segregation and gender inequality: Measures and meanings. Demography, 40(3), 543–568. doi:10.1353/dem.2003.0020.
Charles, M., & Grusky, D. (1995). Models for describing the underlying structure of sex segregation. American Journal of Sociology, 100, 931–971. doi:10.1086/230605.
Charles, M., & Grusky, D. (1998). The past, present and future of sex segregation methodology. Demography, 35(4), 497–504. doi:10.2307/3004017.
Chowdhury, S., & Squire, L. (2006). Setting weights for aggregate indices: An application to the commitment to development index and human development index. The Journal of Development Studies, 42(5), 761–771. doi:10.1080/00220380600741904.
Dijkstra, A. G. (2002). Revisiting UNDP’s GDI and GEM: Towards an alternative. Social Indicators Research, 57, 301–338. doi:10.1023/A:1014726207604.
Dijkstra, A. G. (2006). Towards a fresh start in measuring gender inequality: A contribution to the debate. Journal of Human Development, 7(2), 275–283. doi:10.1080/14649880600768660.
Dijkstra, A. G., & Hanmer, L. C. (2000). Measuring socio-economic gender inequality, towards an alternative to the UNDP gender-related development index. Feminist Economics, 6(2), 41–75. doi:10.1080/13545700050076106.
Dollar, D., & Gatti, R. (1999). Gender inequality, income and growth: Are good times for women?. Mimeographed, Washington DC: The World Bank.
Duncan, O., & Duncan, B. (1955). A methodological analysis of segregation indices. American Sociological Review, 20, 210–217. doi:10.2307/2088328.
Economic Comission for Africa. (2004). The African gender and development index. Addis Ababa: ECA.
Folbre, N. (2006). Measuring care: Gender, empowerment, and the care economy. Journal of Human Development, 7(2), 183–199. doi:10.1080/14649880600768512.
Forsythe, N., Korzeniewick, R. P., & Durrant, V. (1998). “Gender inequalities, economic growth and structural adjustment: A longitudinal evaluation”, Paper presented to XXI Conference of the Latin American Studies Association (LASA), Washington.
Karmel, T., & MacLachlan, M. (1988). Occupational sex segregation-increasing or decreasing. The Economic Record, 64, 187–195. doi:10.1111/j.1475-4932.1988.tb02057.x.
Klasen, S. (1999). “Does gender inequality reduce growth and development? Evidence form cross-country regressions”, Policy research report on gender and development, Working paper series, No.7, The World Bank.
Klasen, S. (2006). UNDP’s gender-related measures: Some conceptual problems and possible solutions. Journal of Human Development, 7(2), 243–274. doi:10.1080/14649880600768595.
Mason, K. O. (1997). Explaining fertility transitions. Demography, 34(4), 443–455. doi:10.2307/3038299.
Permanyer, I. (2008). On the measurement of gender equality and gender-related development levels. Journal of Human Development, 9(1), 87–108. doi:10.1080/14649880701811427.
Reardon, S., & Firebaugh, G. (2002). Measures of multi-group segregation. Sociological Methodology, 32(1), 33–67. doi:10.1111/1467-9531.00110.
Schüler, D. (2006). The uses and misuses of the gender-related development index and gender empowerment measure: A review of the literature. Journal of Human Development, 7(2), 161–181. doi:10.1080/14649880600768496.
Seguino, S. (2000). Gender inequality and economic growth: A cross-country analysis. World Development, 28(7), 1211–1230. doi:10.1016/S0305-750X(00)00018-8.
Smyth, I. (1996). Gender analysis of family planning: Beyond the feminist vs population control debate. Feminist Economics, 2(2), 63–86. doi:10.1080/13545709610001707656.
Social Watch (2005). “Roars and Whispers gender and poverty: Promises versus action”, Social Watch, 713 Montevideo. Available online at http://www.socialwatch.org/en/press/2005.html.
Stapleton, L. M., & Garrod, G. D. (2007). Keeping things simple: Why the human development index should not diverge from its equal weights assumption. Social Indicators Research, 84, 179–188. doi:10.1007/s11205-006-9081-3.
United Nations Development Programme (2005). Human Development report 2005. International cooperation at a crossroads: Aid, trade and security in an unequal world, UNDP. New York: Oxford University Press.
Watts, M. (1998). Occupational gender segregation: Index measurement and econometric modeling. Demography, 35(4), 489–496. doi:10.2307/3004016.
White, H. (1997). Patterns of gender discrimination: An examination of the UNDP’s gender development index”, Mimeo. The Hague: Institute of Social Studies.
World Economic Forum (2005, 2006, 2007). The Global Gender Gap report. Available online at http://www.weforum.org/pdf/gendergap.
Acknowledgments
I would like to thank Lourdes Beneria for all comments and support on the successive versions of this paper. Support from the Fulbright-Generalitat de Catalunya fellowship is gratefully acknowledged.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
An erratum to this article can be found at http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11205-010-9598-3
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Permanyer, I. The Measurement of Multidimensional Gender Inequality: Continuing the Debate. Soc Indic Res 95, 181–198 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-009-9463-4
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-009-9463-4