Share Of Women Research Articles

Ticket-balancing in mixed-member proportional systems. Comparing sub-national elections in Germany

This article compares ticket-balancing processes in pure and mixed-member proportional systems, which differ with regard to the type of candidature—party list versus combination of single-member and party list. By comparing sub-national elections in Germany between 2000 and 2004, we analyse the impact of double-nominations on the share of safely listed women. Whereas a cross-sectional multiple OLS-regression analysis finds no direct effect except that women's share is dependent on candidate gender quotas and a minimum of two safe list places, there is clear evidence of an interactive relationship between quotas and nominations. Selectors strategically use candidate selection to fulfil gender quotas and frequently nominate female district candidates on safe list places.

The ‘Feminisation of Poverty’ and the ‘Feminisation’ of Anti-Poverty Programmes: Room for Revision?

The construct of the ‘feminisation of poverty’ has helped to give gender an increasingly prominent place within international discourses on poverty and poverty reduction. Yet the way in which gender has been incorporated pragmatically – predominantly through the ‘feminisation’ of anti-poverty programmes – has rarely relieved women of the onus of coping with poverty in their households, and has sometimes exacerbated their burdens. In order to explore how and why this is the case, as well as to sharpen the methodological and conceptual parameters of the ‘feminisation of poverty’ thesis, this paper examines four main questions. First, what are the common understandings of the ‘feminisation of poverty’? Second, what purposes have been served by the popularisation and adoption of this term? Third, what problems are there with the ‘feminisation of poverty’ analytically, and in respect of how the construct has been taken up and responded to in policy circles? Fourth, how do we make the ‘feminisation of poverty’ more relevant to women's lives – and empowerment – at the grassroots? Foremost among my conclusions is that since the main indications of feminisation relate to women's mounting responsibilities and obligations in household survival we need to re-orient the ‘feminisation of poverty’ thesis so that it better reflects inputs as well as incomes, and emphasises not only women's level or share of poverty but the burden of dealing with it. Another, related, conclusion is that just as much as women are often recruited into rank-and-file labour in anti-poverty programmes, ‘co-responsibility’ should not be a one-way process. This requires, inter alia, the more active support of men, employers and public institutions in domestic labour and unpaid care work.

Ahead of Her Time: Eva Kolinsky and the Limits of German Gender Quotas

As German political parties began to implement gender quotas, Eva Kolinsky was sceptical whether such quotas could succeed in increasing women's presence in German legislatures. She predicted that women's unequal share of home and family responsibilities and their dislike of traditional political structures would limit the quotas' success. This article, written over a decade after Kolinsky's work, assesses the accuracy of her predictions. It finds her scepticism of gender quotas' ability to overcome women's perpetual political under-representation partially warranted. While quotas have had a positive effect on German women's political representation, they have not been quite as successful as initial observers had hoped. Kolinsky's concerns about the hindrances to women's political representation posed by their unequal share of household responsibilities and the male nature of German politics continue to explain this pattern. Although quotas alone have not been enough to ensure that German women hold an equal share of political power, they have been surprisingly effective, despite the persistence of indirect hurdles.

Changing Resources and the Division of Housework: A Longitudinal Study of Swedish Couples

Most research on the division of housework is based on cross-sectional studies. This study instead focuses on the way in which changes in spouses' relative resources are related to changes in housework. The data come from the Swedish Level of Living Survey for the years 1991 and 2000. An important issue is whether spouses can use their relative resources in negotiations about housework. The analyses show that changes in spouses' relative resources only result in a moderate change in women's share of the housework between 1991 and 2000. The change that nevertheless does take place indicates that women's share of the housework decreases if their relative resources in terms of level of education and social status increased between 1991 and 2000. If a woman's economic dependency on her spouse decreased between the two years, her share of the housework also decreases. The decrease in women's share of the housework is mainly due to an increase in men's time spent in housework. However, regardless of access to resources, Swedish men do less housework than Swedish women do.

Feminization of Agricultural Labor and Women's Domestic Status: Evidence from Labor Households in India

Women's share of agricultural wage employment is rising across the Indian sub-continent. Studies examining this process of feminization tend to be divided along lines of an ideological debate following either the 'poverty-push' or the 'demand-pull' argument. This debate however has largely ignored the institution of patriarchy. This study revisits the debate with a focus on domestic gender relations. We find that, despite increased labor market participation, women's household status remains acutely depressed. Women laborers, with access to productive assets, however, are effectively reworking gender relations within and outside the household. Their experiences, we argue, have implications for transformative policies.

Is Trade Liberalization a Window of Opportunity for Women?

This paper analyses how trade affects women's job opportunities and earnings through five case studies: Mauritius, Mexico, Peru, the Philippines and Sri Lanka. It is found that women's share of the labour force has increased over time and the wage gap between men and women has narrowed. It is also found that there is a positive and statistically significant relation between exports and women's share of employment while there is a statistically significant and negative correlation between women's share in employment and imports. The correlation between women's share of employment and trade stems from variation between sectors rather than within sectors over time, indicating that export-competing industries tend to employ women while import-competing industries tend to employ men. Trade liberalization is likely to create jobs for women and over time increase their relative wages.

ANALYSIS OF THEORETICAL APPROACHES TO GENDER PAY GAP

The number of women in the world labour force is growing. Nevertheless, in spite of women's large share in the labour force, many gender inequities in the labour market, such as gender specific jobs, pay inequities are observed. Women and men do not receive equal pay for equal work. Wage discrimination is reality. Women on average have lower incomes, lower wages and less advantageous terms of employment than men. The purpose of this article is to review main theoretical approaches to the basic economic question about the gender pay gap: why do, women, on average earn less than men. Attention has been focused on basic theoretical approaches: human capital model, labour market discrimination and theory of occupational segregation. The paper is based on empirical data from Lithuania and other European Union countries.

Analysis of theoretical approaches to gender pay gap

The number of women in the world labour force is growing. Nevertheless, in spite of women's large share in the labour force, many gender inequities in the labour market, such as gender specific job...

The Effects of Intrahousehold Property Ownership on Expenditure Patterns in Ghana

Increasingly, economists are examining how the dynamics within households affect the outcomes of household decisions. This paper uses data from the 1991/92 and the 1998/99 Ghana Living Standards Surveys to examine how the share of assets owned by women in Ghanaian households affects household expenditure patterns. In this analysis, assets include business assets, savings, and farmland. The results indicate that women's share of assets do have an impact on household budget shares for a number of expenditure categories in each time period. The effects are robust to considering only the share of farmland held by women. Although the number of households in which women own land is much smaller than the number of households in which women own assets, the coefficients on the share of household land owned by women is statistically significant in explaining five of the nine budget categories in each time period. In particular, in both periods, women's share of farmland significantly increased budget shares on food. Finally, the paper considers the patterns of poverty and asset holdings over this time period. Copyright 2006, Oxford University Press.

War in the Hellenistic world: a social and cultural history

List of Figures. List of Maps. List of Abbreviations. Table of Important Events. Preface. 1. The Ubiquitous War. The Visibility of War. The Frequency of Wars. Reasons to Fight. 2. Between Civic Duties and Oligarchic Aspirations: Devoted Citizens, Brave Generals, and Generous Benefactors. Fighting Against a Neighbor: A Privilege of the Polis. Warfare as a Citizen Duty. City and Land: Structure and Hierarchy. The Defense of the City as the Stage of Civic Elites. Local Hero: The Statesman as Military Leader. Euergetism in War and the Ideology of Inequality. From Individual Services to the Heredity of Leadership. 3. The Age of War: Fighting Young Men. Restless Warriors. Training Fighters. Rituals for Young Warriors. 4 The Interactive King: War and the Ideology of Hellenistic Monarchy. The Ideology of Hellenistic Kingship. The King and his Army. The King and the City: Big Spender, Defender, Peace-maker. The Wolf as a Sheep: Royal Peace-makers. War and Mortal Divinity. 5. War as a profession: Officers, Trainers, Doctors, Engineers. The Professionalisation of Hellenistic Warfare: Definitions and Modifications. The Social Context of Mercenary Service. The Conditions of Service. Garrisons and Foreign Troops in Hellenistic Cities. Professional Ideals: Discipline, Solidarity, Masculinity. Professional Risks: Doctors and Patients. War as a Science: Tacticians and Inventors. 6. The Gender of War: Masculine Warriors, Defenseless Women and Beyond. War and masculinity. In the Shadow of Soldiers: Women in Garrisons and Forts. Spectators, Judges, and Defenders: Women's Share of War. Anonymous Victims. 7. The Cost and Profit of War: Economic Aspects of Hellenistic Warfare. The Budget of War: Fiscal Aspects of Hellenistic Warfare. War and Agriculture. The Economy of Booty. Winners and Losers: The Impact of War on Hellenistic Economy. 8. An Age of Miracles and Saviors. The Effects of Hellenistic Wars on Religion. Communicating with the Gods, Boasting to Mortals. War and Cult Transfer. Violence Against Sanctuaries and the Discourse of War. An Age of Miracles: War and the Supernatural. Pragmatism Versus Tradition: War and the Dynamics of Rituals. 9. The Discourse of War. War Reflections. War Reveals the Character of Men and Groups. Naming Wars. Deciding and Justifying War. The Right of Conquest. Longing for Peace. 10. Aesthetics of War. Images of Violence in Hellenistic Literature and Art. Blood is Beautiful: Realism and Subtlety in the Representation of Violence. The Beauty of the Unexpected: Peripeteia and the Paradoxon in Narratives of War. 11. The Memory of War. The Memory of War: Individual, Collective, Cultural. War in Hellenistic Historiography. Monumental Historiography. Oral Commemoration of War. Commemorative Festivals. War Monuments. 12. Breaking Boundaries: How Warfare Shaped the Hellenistic World. Bibliography. Name Index. Subject Index. Source Index.

Gender Stereotypes, Same-Gender Preferences, and Organizational Variation in the Hiring of Women: Evidence from Law Firms

Laboratory studies have shown that stereotypes and in-group favoritism influence people's perceptions and evaluations of others, but empirical research has not yet linked these processes to gender disparities in real workplace outcomes. This study proposes that the gender stereotypicality of selection criteria and decision makers' same-gender preferences operate to intensify gender inequality in hiring. These arguments are tested with data on large U.S. law firms in the mid-1990s. The findings show that when selection criteria include a greater number of stereotypically masculine characteristics, women constitute a smaller proportion of new hires, and that, conversely, when criteria include more stereotypically feminine traits, women are better represented among new hires. Female decision makers also fill more vacancies with women than do male decision makers, but among entry-level hires, this effect diminishes as women's share of high-ranking positions increases toward gender balance.

Gendered management in Hungary: perceptions and explanations

PurposeTo display both the statistical data and the subjective evaluation on the situation of women in management in Hungary.Design/methodology/approachIn the last ten years research activity on gender and work countries have concentrated on the investigation of the sociological issue of the extent to which equal opportunity programmes at the company level have been accomplished in Hungary. The investigations consist of two interrelated parts: questionnaires on women's situation in top management completed by HR departments, and in‐depth interviews with employees. This paper brings together these studies and reports on women's management position at senior levels in Hungarian organisations.FindingsThe results show that, although women's share in the elite pool of economic life increased, women are badly represented in higher managerial positions. Neither employers nor employees find this situation problematic, and continuously emphasised the liberal meaning of equality. There were various ideas about the explanation for the poor representation of women in the company boards, but none of them stressed the organisation as the hindrance of women's advancement.Research limitations/implicationsIt is not based on a representative sample.Originality/valueThere have been minimal investigations on gender issues at companies in Hungary. These results display not only companies' official opinion but also the employees' perceptions on gender inequality. The paper contributes to the neglected area of gender and management research with the Hungarian and Eastern European context.

Substitution or Segregation? The Impact of Changes in Employment, Production and Product on Gender Composition in Dutch Manufacturing 1899-1999

This study focuses on the issue of substitution or segregation in the demand for female labour. Based on an extensive overview of detailed studies, the authors examine fluctuations in the gender composition of the workforce in four major sectors of Dutch manufacturing industry over the past century. Women's share in employment has been stable in the clothing industry, fluctuated in textiles, increased in food production and decreased in Philips Electronics. Changes in the proportion of women in these industries are primarily explained by segregation, that is by fluctuations in employment in the male and female domains. Only a few examples of substitution can be traced. These are primarily driven by labour shortages, and the numbers of workers involved are small. Overwhelmingly, employers prefer to act within gender boundaries.

The impact of trade liberalization on women's job opportunities and earnings in developing countries

This paper analyses how trade affects women's job opportunities and earnings through five case studies: Mauritius, Mexico, Peru, the Philippines and Sri Lanka. Women's share of the labour force has increased over time and the wage gap between men and women has narrowed. A positive and statistically significant correlation between exports and women's share of employment is found while there is a statistically significant and negative correlation between women's share in employment and imports. The correlations stem from variation between sectors rather than within sectors over time, indicating that export-competing industries tend to employ women while import-competing industries tend to employ men. Trade liberalization is likely to create jobs for women and over time increase their relative wages.

Multilevel analysis of women's empowerment and HIV prevention: quantitative survey Results from a preliminary study in Botswana.

This preliminary study explored relationships between women's empowerment and HIV prevention on the national and individual level with a focus on Botswana. Among sub-Saharan Africa countries, HIV prevalence was positively correlated with indirect indicators of women's empowerment relating to their education (female enrollment in secondary education and ratio of female to male secondary school enrollment), but not to their economic status (female share of paid employment in industry and services) or political status (women's share of seats in national parliament), while controlling for gross national income, percentage of births attended, and percentage of roads paved. Condom use at last sexual encounter was positively and significantly correlated with both indicators of women's educational empowerment, but was not significantly related to the other two indices. Empowerment at the individual level was explored through a preliminary quantitative survey of 71 sexually active women in Gaborone, Botswana, that was conducted in February 2001. Regression analyses showed that women's negotiating power and economic independence were the factors most strongly related to condom use, and did not show that education was a crucial factor. Economic independence was the factor most strongly related to negotiating power. These results suggest that in Botswana, HIV prevention efforts may need to improve women's negotiating skills and access to income-generating activities.

Book Review: How Jane Won: 55 Successful Women Share How They Grew From Ordinary Girls to Extraordinary Women

Book Review: How Jane Won: 55 Successful Women Share How They Grew From Ordinary Girls to Extraordinary Women

The Division of Spoils: Rent-Sharing and Discrimination in a Regulated Industry

Until the middle of the 1970's, regulations constrained banks' ability to enter new markets. Over the subsequent 25 years, states gradually lifted these restrictions. This paper tests whether rents fostered by regulation were shared with labor, and whether firms were discriminating by sharing these rents disproportionately with male workers. We find that average compensation and average wages for banking employees fell after states deregulated. Male wages fell by about 12 percent after deregulation, whereas women's wages fell by only 3 percent, suggesting that rents were shared mainly with men. Women's share of employment in managerial positions also increased following deregulation. (JEL G2, J3, J7, L5)

Trends in drinking patterns among adult population in 15 European countries, 1950 to 2000: a review

Jussi Simpura & Thomas Karlsson: Trends in drinking patterns among adult population in 15 European countries, 1950 to 2000: a review Under the auspices of the European Comparative Alcohol Study (ECAS), data was compiled on trends in drinking patterns from 15 European countries (EU member countries, Luxembourg excluded, and Norway) from 1950 to 2000. This review is based on existing survey data on adult population. It turned out that (a) only a few countries (Finland, the Netherlands, Norway, and Sweden) have data on drinking patterns in the 1950s and 1960s, but (b) an increasing number of countries have drinking habit surveys from the 1970s and 1980s onwards (Austria, Denmark, Germany, Spain, United Kingdom) and (c) in the 1990s, almost all EU member countries have conducted surveys with data on drinking patterns (France, Greece, Italy, and Portugal, while Belgium remains the only country with very little data available). The data is, however, too scarce to say anything very certain about trends and the possible homogenisation of drinking patterns. Six indicators were studied in more detail. Abstinence rates fell in the 1960s in the traditionally abstinent Northern European countries, and later among women in the Mediterranean countries. Women's share of drinking also increased in the Northern European countries in the 1970s, but not necessarily elsewhere. With decreasing alcohol consumption in the Mediterranean countries, this means that per capita alcohol consumption among women may well have decreased, too. With a few exceptions, 30 to 50-year-olds were the age group with the highest alcohol consumption. The age distribution showed no general trends. Data on the shape of the population distribution of alcohol consumption was scarce, except for a few countries where the shape did not suggest any systematic changes. Also, data on binge drinking (high intake per single occasion) was mostly scarce, and again, the findings from the few countries with sufficient data showed remarkable stability. Remarkably slow changes were also evident in specific drinking contexts. There may be some signs of slow homogenisation of drinking patterns between the 15 European countries, but the differences are still notable. The main conclusion is that changes in drinking patterns are slow, even amidst rapidly changing living conditions. The natural time scale for such changes is not a few years or even a decade, but a generation.

Gender and Struggle for Identity: the Moriscas in Sixteenth-Century Castile1

AbstractThe Castilian community of Arcos possessed the second largest concentration of Moriscos in the jurisdiction of the Inquisition tribunal of Cuenca, and offers an excellent case study in which to focus on women's share in the daily struggle to maintain Morisco traditional lifestyle under Christian oppression. Nearly half of the extant trials from Arcos concern women, and as such they enable a partial reconstruction of family structures, kinship relations, and women's activities as well as their social networks. The disappearance of Islamic religious and legal institutions following the forced conversion of Castilian Mudejars (Muslims living under Christian rule) may actually have created a greater opportunity for women to participate in unofficial leadership of crypto-Islamic practices. This article presents the cases of the sisters Beatriz and Maria del Sastre, who drew the attention of "old" Christian neighbors, their Morisco brethren, and eventually the Inquisition.

RESEARCH NOTE: HOW DID ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND TRADEAFFECT WOMEN'S SHARE OF THE LABOR FORCE IN THE 1980s?

Changes in women's share of the labor force are examined by analyzing data from 40 Less Developed Cmmtries and 20 more advanced industrialized countries. Results show that women did not gain any control of the labor force in the 1980s. Although Less Developed Countries (LDCs) moved toward convergence with advanced industrialized countries on measures of fertility and trade dependence, major economic and social differences remained.