Exploring the Sources of the Agricultural Productivity Gender Gap : Evidence from Sri Lanka

Previous literature found overwhelming evidence of an agricultural gender gap in favor of male farmers. The case of Sri Lanka is unique as agricultural productivity, measured by yield per unit of land, is 25.4 percent higher among female farmers th...

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Main Authors:	Fukase, Emiko, Kim, Yeon Soo, Chiarella, Cristina
Format:	Working Paper
Language:	English
Published:	World Bank, Washington, DC 2022
Subjects:	UNEQUAL DIVISION OF LABOR SOCIAL NORMS GENDER NORMS AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTIVITY BY GENDER EQUITABLE ACCESS TO RESOURCES WOMEN’S PRODUCTIVITY MEN'S PRODUCTIVITY GENDER EQUALITY PROMOTION AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTIVITY FACTORS CROP MIX ACCESS TO RESOURCES GENDER EQUITY
Online Access:	http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/099410104272220398/IDU01a2daff10ec0c04bc309bbe0aff53a71e3c1 http://hdl.handle.net/10986/37366

id	okr-10986-37366
recordtype	oai_dc
spelling	okr-10986-373662022-05-04T05:10:39Z Exploring the Sources of the Agricultural Productivity Gender Gap : Evidence from Sri Lanka Fukase, Emiko Kim, Yeon Soo Chiarella, Cristina UNEQUAL DIVISION OF LABOR SOCIAL NORMS GENDER NORMS AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTIVITY BY GENDER EQUITABLE ACCESS TO RESOURCES WOMEN’S PRODUCTIVITY MEN'S PRODUCTIVITY GENDER EQUALITY PROMOTION AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTIVITY FACTORS CROP MIX ACCESS TO RESOURCES GENDER EQUITY Previous literature found overwhelming evidence of an agricultural gender gap in favor of male farmers. The case of Sri Lanka is unique as agricultural productivity, measured by yield per unit of land, is 25.4 percent higher among female farmers than male farmers. Using the nationally representative 2016 Sri Lanka Household Income and Expenditure Survey and the Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition technique, the paper explores the sources of this unconditional female productivity advantage. The analysis finds that the smaller plot size cultivated by women is the leading source of female productivity advantage, reflecting the inverse relationship between cultivated area and productivity. However, this productivity advantage does not translate into women’s higher crop earnings. Another important source is the gendered pattern of crop mix as women tend to cultivate more high-value, export-oriented crops, while men are more likely to grow paddy with low productivity. Once controlling for plot size and crop mix, a conditional male productivity advantage emerges, reflecting men’s greater access to agricultural resources and potentially an unequal pattern of division of labor associated with social and gender norms. Policies to promote equitable access to resources and address other constraints to women’s productivity in agriculture continue to be important in promoting gender equality. 2022-05-03T13:29:05Z 2022-05-03T13:29:05Z 2022-04 Working Paper http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/099410104272220398/IDU01a2daff10ec0c04bc309bbe0aff53a71e3c1 http://hdl.handle.net/10986/37366 English CC BY 3.0 IGO http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo World Bank World Bank, Washington, DC Policy Research Working Paper Publications & Research Sri Lanka
repository_type	Digital Repository
institution_category	Foreign Institution
institution	Digital Repositories
building	World Bank Open Knowledge Repository
collection	World Bank
language	English
topic	UNEQUAL DIVISION OF LABOR SOCIAL NORMS GENDER NORMS AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTIVITY BY GENDER EQUITABLE ACCESS TO RESOURCES WOMEN’S PRODUCTIVITY MEN'S PRODUCTIVITY GENDER EQUALITY PROMOTION AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTIVITY FACTORS CROP MIX ACCESS TO RESOURCES GENDER EQUITY
spellingShingle	UNEQUAL DIVISION OF LABOR SOCIAL NORMS GENDER NORMS AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTIVITY BY GENDER EQUITABLE ACCESS TO RESOURCES WOMEN’S PRODUCTIVITY MEN'S PRODUCTIVITY GENDER EQUALITY PROMOTION AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTIVITY FACTORS CROP MIX ACCESS TO RESOURCES GENDER EQUITY Fukase, Emiko Kim, Yeon Soo Chiarella, Cristina Exploring the Sources of the Agricultural Productivity Gender Gap : Evidence from Sri Lanka
geographic_facet	Sri Lanka
description	Previous literature found overwhelming evidence of an agricultural gender gap in favor of male farmers. The case of Sri Lanka is unique as agricultural productivity, measured by yield per unit of land, is 25.4 percent higher among female farmers than male farmers. Using the nationally representative 2016 Sri Lanka Household Income and Expenditure Survey and the Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition technique, the paper explores the sources of this unconditional female productivity advantage. The analysis finds that the smaller plot size cultivated by women is the leading source of female productivity advantage, reflecting the inverse relationship between cultivated area and productivity. However, this productivity advantage does not translate into women’s higher crop earnings. Another important source is the gendered pattern of crop mix as women tend to cultivate more high-value, export-oriented crops, while men are more likely to grow paddy with low productivity. Once controlling for plot size and crop mix, a conditional male productivity advantage emerges, reflecting men’s greater access to agricultural resources and potentially an unequal pattern of division of labor associated with social and gender norms. Policies to promote equitable access to resources and address other constraints to women’s productivity in agriculture continue to be important in promoting gender equality.
format	Working Paper
author	Fukase, Emiko Kim, Yeon Soo Chiarella, Cristina
author_facet	Fukase, Emiko Kim, Yeon Soo Chiarella, Cristina
author_sort	Fukase, Emiko
title	Exploring the Sources of the Agricultural Productivity Gender Gap : Evidence from Sri Lanka
title_short	Exploring the Sources of the Agricultural Productivity Gender Gap : Evidence from Sri Lanka
title_full	Exploring the Sources of the Agricultural Productivity Gender Gap : Evidence from Sri Lanka
title_fullStr	Exploring the Sources of the Agricultural Productivity Gender Gap : Evidence from Sri Lanka
title_full_unstemmed	Exploring the Sources of the Agricultural Productivity Gender Gap : Evidence from Sri Lanka
title_sort	exploring the sources of the agricultural productivity gender gap : evidence from sri lanka
publisher	World Bank, Washington, DC
publishDate	2022
url	http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/099410104272220398/IDU01a2daff10ec0c04bc309bbe0aff53a71e3c1 http://hdl.handle.net/10986/37366
_version_	1764487081930784768

Exploring the Sources of the Agricultural Productivity Gender Gap : Evidence from Sri Lanka

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