2025年妇女、商业和法律

Public Disclosure Authorized Development Purpose.Achieving gender parity in employment and pay could unlock an average increaseof GDP per capita of about 20 percent across countries (Pennings 2022). TheWomen, Business and theLaw(WBL) project produces data on laws, regulations, policies, and their enforcement across 190economies, covering 10 topics relevant to women's economic opportunity. These data help identify legalbarriers and measure the economic impact of reforms. Policymakers, financial institutions, civil societyorganizations (CSOs), investors, and researchers use the data for cross-country comparisons, evaluatingregulatory environments, and identifying legal reforms. The findings guide reforms, assess the economicimpact of laws on women's prospects asemployeesand entrepreneurs, and support economicarguments for gender equality as a driver for job creation and prosperity globally. Scope.Women, Business and the Lawuses a life-cycle approach to evaluate how laws, regulations,policies, and their implementation affect women as economic actors. This approach considers barriersand enablers that all women encounter at different stages of their working lives, with a focus on thoseapplicable to women employees and entrepreneurs. The topics demonstrate statistically significantpositive correlations with outcomes such as the female labor force participation rate, the female-to-malewageratio, the percentage of firms with a female top manager, the extent of financial account ownershipamong women, and the share of women who report saving for old age–individually and collectivelydemonstrating that gender equality, as measured by the WBL index, is linked to better developmentoutcomes not only for women but for economies as a whole, fostering global productivity, resilience, andprosperity. The project reviews economic literature to demonstrate how legislation influences women'sequality ofopportunity during different career phases. Each topic is supported by internationally agreedconventions and regional legal frameworks to ensure relevance to women's human and economic rights. Output.TheWomen, Business and the Lawproject provides comprehensive data and analysis on howlaws, regulations, and policies affect women’s economic opportunities globally. The project produces adata set, global report, country profiles, and associated research, assessing the enabling environment forwomen’s economic opportunity across 190 economies and 10 topics structured around the life cycle ofan economically active working woman: Safety, Mobility, Workplace, Pay, Marriage, Parenthood,Childcare, Entrepreneurship, Assets, and Pension. Each topic is divided into three pillars: legalframeworks, supportive frameworks, and enforcement perceptions. This pillar approach is relevant forunderstanding not only the existence of laws but their practical impact on women's access to jobs andmarkets. The data set, updated annually and spanning over 50 years from 1970 to 2023, is availableonline at wbl.worldbank.org. The data are presented in a global report,published annually, that highlights reforms and examines theimpact of legal and policy changes on women's access to jobs and markets in 190 economies. The reportshows correlations between the collected data and economic outcomes, demonstrating the link betweenlaws and economic growth. The project also publishes individual country profiles, regional analysis,thematic briefs, and independent research on various topics to help identify gaps and reformopportunities. Since 2010, WBL has measured more than 600 legal reforms that enhance women'seconomic opportunities worldwide. The data have been used by the World Bank to inform countryassessments, regional action plans, and policy operations, leading to significant legal reforms opening upnew economic opportunities. Pillar Model and Scoring.Since 2009, WBL has collected data on laws that help women achieve theireconomic potential by removing legal barriers and creating supportive environments. To present a fuller picture of the enabling environment for women, since 2024,Women, Business and the Lawhas beenanalyzing de jure laws “on the books”, while also examining the existence of policy and institutionalframeworks supporting the de facto implementation of the law, and gauging experts’ perceptions of howeffectively the law is enforced or a rightis upheld in practice for women. The project measures 10 topicsacross three pillars: (1) legal frameworks; (2) supportive frameworks; and (3) enforcement perceptions.The legal frameworks pillar is based on analysis of the domestic laws and regulations that affect women’seconomic opportunities, depending on the legal system applicable in the assessed economy. Thesupportive frameworks pillar is based on an analysis of instruments designed to support theimplementation of laws, such as (1) national policies and action plans; (2) institutions in charge ofmonitoring and implementing laws; (3) access to justice measures;