Gender inequality in Muslim-majority countries: Myths versus facts

Abstract

The study uses a cross-sectional data set for 209 countries in order to test whether the regulation of social life by Islamic norms and values is related to gender inequality and whether the impacts differ for the MENA countries, as well as Arab- and Muslim-majority countries. The study finds that the impact of gender inequality differs for the MENA, Arab- and Muslim-majority countries only when control variables are excluded from the regressions. The paper obtains empirical evidence against the belief that religion and oil are culprits responsible for holding women back in Muslim countries.