Frequently Asked Questions

Explore answers to frequently asked questions about the Women, Business and the Law (WBL) project below. If your question is not listed, please write to us at wbl@worldbank.org and we will get back to you with a response.

Several topics in both the legal frameworks and supportive frameworks indices have been enhanced through the inclusion of new and refined indicators to improve clarity and capture emerging policy priorities. For example, in the supportive frameworks index, new indicators on government initiatives to increase women’s participation in science, technology, engineering as well as on financial and business development support for women entrepreneurs have been added.

In addition, to more accurately capture the complexities and nuances of the legal and policy landscape in each economy, and to better measure and recognize incremental progress, the 2026 report introduces partial scoring for certain indicators, moving away from a purely binary scoring of 0 and 1. Indicators with quantitative measures such as the length of parental leave or the gender gap in pensionable age are assigned points on a linear scale with clear minimum and maximum values.

Further, Women, Business and the Law 2026 introduces the enforcement perceptions pillar, evaluating legal experts’ perceptions on the extent to which public authorities enforce, in practice, the laws and rights measured in the legal frameworks pillar. The surveys on experts’ perceptions include anchoring vignettes, a set of hypothetical scenarios establishing a common frame of reference, to improve the comparability of perception scores across different economies, thus making the data more suitable for generating global, regional, and cross-economy insights.

Following extensive consultations with gender experts, academics, civil society representatives, and colleagues within the World Bank Group, the Women, Business and the Law team designs questionnaires that are administered to a large sample of lawyers, judges, academics, and members of civil society organizations in 190 economies. These expert contributors—who complete the questionnaires on a pro bono basis—are identified by their expertise in the various areas of law covered by the report.

The team further engages with expert contributors through conference calls, written correspondence, and in-person meetings on country visits. All questionnaire responses are then analyzed, with each answer verified against the corresponding primary legal or policy source. Lastly, the data undergoes a thorough internal review process in which comments on the data are received from across the World Bank Group.

More details about the data collection are provided in the Manual and Guide.

The Women, Business and the Law (WBL) index is based on statistically significant associations with outcomes related to women’s economic opportunity, in particular with women’s labor force participation as well as with other outcomes of interest, for example, female to male labor force participation rate ratio from the World Bank’s World Development Indicators database, the female to male wage ratio from the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report, the percentage of firms with a female top manager from the World Bank’s Enterprise Surveys, and the percentage of females who report owning financial accounts from the World Bank’s Global FINDEX database.

In addition to the association of indicators with outcomes, WBL employs a thorough review of the economic literature that supports each indicator, demonstrating how legislation influences women’s equality of opportunity during different phases of their working lives and affects their economic inclusion.

Finally, to ensure their relevance to women’s human and economic rights, each indicator is supported by the international legal framework set out in the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and other international legal documents, such as the UN Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women (DEVAW), the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women’s General Recommendations, and Conventions of the International Labor Organization (ILO).

More details about the methodology are provided here and in the Methodology Handbook. 

Women, Business and the Law provides scores for each economy covered on three pillars: legal frameworks, supportive frameworks, and enforcement perceptions.  The legal frameworks pillar measures the degree of equality of rights regarding, and explicit restrictions on, women’s work and entrepreneurship. The supportive frameworks pillar examines policies, institutions, mechanisms for access to justice, programs and services, and data systems that support the implementation of laws. The enforcement perceptions pillar captures expert assessments on the extent to which public authorities enforce women’s rights in practice, assessed under the WBL legal frameworks. For each of the three pillars, 10 topics representing a different phrase or aspect of a woman’s working life are measured. Four indicators, some of which consist of multiple survey questions, provide data on each of the 10 topics.

WBL Legal Frameworks and Supportive Frameworks Indices: For each index, 40 indicators are scored across 10 topics of four overarching questions. Topic-level scores are obtained by calculating the unweighted average of scores of the indicators within that topic and scaling the result to 100, which represents the highest possible score. 

WBL Enforcement Perceptions Index: The index includes 40 indicators, aligned with the same 10 topics and legal frameworks indicators. Each enforcement perceptions question directly mirrors its corresponding legal framework indicator and is asked only when the related law or right exists, ensuring that enforcement is evaluated in relation to specific rights rather than broader contextual factors.

Information on the construction of the dataset, the methodology, and the scoring for each question can be found in the Methodology Handbook.

Policy makers, international financial institutions, civil society organizations (CSOs), investors, and researchers can utilize the data and findings from Women, Business and the Law (WBL) in various ways. The data evaluate the legal and regulatory environment across 190 economies, enabling cross-country comparisons and highlighting the impact of legal reforms on gender equality, labor market participation, and economic growth. 

For example, WBL data support legal and policy reform by highlighting regulatory gaps and examples of successful reform, helping governments and organizations drive impactful change. In Azerbaijan, WBL findings supported amendments to the labor code that eliminated 674 job restrictions affecting women, thus opening up job opportunities that had previously been closed to women. WBL data and World Bank support also informed Sierra Leone’s 2023 Employment Act, which banned job discrimination, mandated equal remuneration for work of equal value, and introduced parental leave.

Businesses and investors can also use the data to evaluate regulatory environments and assess economic risks for women business owners and workers. Further, researchers can rely on WBL data to derive evidence-based arguments how gender equality promotes job creation and economic growth.

At its inception, Women, Business and the Law (WBL) took as its starting point that the law can help women reach their full potential. It is the framework by which governments can identify barriers to women’s success and, by removing them, boost their labor force participation. However, for women to thrive in the world of work, the laws that guarantee their equality of opportunity must be meaningfully implemented and enforced.

WBL recognizes that formal laws alone do not always determine outcomes and refined the methodology to capture the conditions that shape implementation and enforcement Women, Business and the Law 2024 for the first time analyzed not only laws—de jure— but also the existence of frameworks supporting implementation of the law—de facto. Women, Business and the Law 2026 completes this new framework by presenting a new partial scoring approach and the perceptions of legal experts on the extent to which public authorities enforce, in practice, the laws and rights measured in the legal index.

To ensure cross-economy comparability, Women, Business and the Law (WBL) applies a consistent set of general and topic-specific parameters across all economies it examines. In economies where the applicable law differs according to the religion or custom of the right holder, WBL analysis reflects the legal framework applicable in the main business city and to the majority religion.   

WBL data is based on codified laws only and in some cases, in common law countries, legal precedent. Uncodified religious or customary practices are not reflected in the data unless they are officially codified or explicitly referenced by and interpreted through judicial decisions. This limitation ensures that the indicators remain actionable, because the law is what policymakers can change.   

Recognizing that this approach may not fully reflect the diversity of women’s experiences, WBL piloted deep-dive sub-national studies in Bosnia and Herzegovina and in Nigeria to examine legal barriers shaped by national and local legislation, as well as customary and religious law where applicable. Findings from the studies are available here.

Women, Business and the Law (WBL) focuses on the formal legal and regulatory environment determining whether women can open their own businesses or work. Although many women in developing economies start businesses or work in the informal economy, a goal of this project is to define some of the features of the legal framework that make it more difficult for women to transition from the informal to the formal economy. Further, to maintain comparability across economies, WBL includes an assumption that the woman in question is employed in the formal sector. However, many of the indicators have direct relevance for women who work in the informal sector, for example laws affecting women’s ability to own or inherit property, or protections against domestic violence. Indirectly, legal protections affecting the formal sector provide a foundation for economic inclusion and offer incentives for women to be employed in or start businesses in the formal sector.

  1. If you are a lawyer, legal expert or gender expert, we invite you to contribute your knowledge to our research. Express your interest using this form.
  2. If you represent a government agency and seek to contribute to our data collection, please email wblengagement@worldbank.org. 
  3. Use Women, Business and the Law data for research, advocacy, and policy reform. Download the panel data set. 
  4. Share the Women, Business and the Law report’s main findings to inform policy reform using our social media kit here.

 

WBL and B-READY both address aspects of gender equality, but their focuses are distinct:

WBL focuses on laws and policy mechanisms that create the enabling environment for women’s economic opportunities. It evaluates laws and regulations and assesses whether implementation mechanisms exist to bridge the gap between policy and practice. WBL also uses expert insights to gauge the impact of laws on women’s lives.

B-READY collects data on gender primarily on whether government institutions and services support regulations. It focuses on gender-disaggregated data (e. g., in entrepreneurship, utility access, labor disputes, and land ownership), gender-targeted programs for women entrepreneurs (e.g., incubators and accelerators), and gender-sensitive regulations (e.g., in public procurement and trade). 

In summary, WBL provides a comprehensive assessment of how economies support women’s economic opportunities through legal frameworks and the practical implementation of these laws. B-READY, on the other hand, focuses on public service delivery to address gender-specific challenges. Together, both projects offer distinct yet complementary insights into how laws and institutions influence women’s economic empowerment. 

For more information on how policymakers may use WBL and B-READY data to enable inclusive job creation and sustainable economic growth, see this blog.

The WBL report production cycle consists of five phases over a 12-month period, from the design of the questionnaire to the publication of the report and data. Each phase is broadly covered in the sections that follow, with a particular focus on the phases that touch on data collection and data validation. See "About Us" page for more details.
 
  1. Questionnaire design and systems configuration (December–April). During this phase, the WBL team designs the questionnaires that will be used to collect data and partners with IT colleagues to configure the systems for survey distribution, contributor relationship management, and data management.
  2. Data collection in 190 economies (April–September). During this phase, questionnaires are distributed to private sector Expert Contributors and public sector respondents, as well as World Bank Group staff.
  3. Desk research, data validation, and data review (April–September). During this phase, the WBL team validates the responses received with the relevant law, regulation, or policy mechanism, accessed through desk research. The validated data go through several layers of review to ensure quality and accuracy.
  4. Score computation, data analysis, and report drafting (September–January). During this phase, the WBL team computes the scores for each indicator, topic, and pillar index. The scores are then analyzed and highlights are presented in the draft report. The final data set and report then undergo a process of Bank-wide Review.
  5. Publication and dissemination (February–onward). Following Bank-wide Review, the report is finalized and prepared for publication along with the final data set. The WBL team then engages in dissemination activities to present the findings from the latest report and data set.

 

WBL will disseminate findings of Women, Business and the Law 2026 to inform policy dialogue and reform, thereby allowing more women to realize their rights and boosting economic inclusion and labor force participation worldwide. WBL welcomes requests to organize country or region-specific workshops. WBL plans to publish its next report in 2027.

Expert Contributor Eligibility and Acknowledgement

Expert contributors are selected based on their expertise in the areas covered by each of the three main WBL questionnaires (family law and access to finance, labor law and childcare policies, and violence against women). Expert contributors are expected to be knowledgeable about legal frameworks, supportive policies, and implementation of regulations for their particular topic area. Potential expert contributors can sign up on the “Share your expertise” webpage. Additionally, the WBL team conducts desk-based research on LinkedIn and other online professional platforms to recruit prospective expert contributors. Further, WBL also relies on referrals from current contributors.

The WBL team conducts expertise assessments of all prospective expert contributors. This process involves comprehensive verification and analysis of the potential contributors’ credentials and expertise as indicated in open sources, including LinkedIn profiles, Google Scholar profiles, information published on the firm's and personal websites, news articles about a lawyer’s recent trials, work with clients, or public engagement.

An expert contributor’s professional background must match one of the following categories: legal professionals, academics, policy or development professionals, law graduate students, public policy graduate students, and retired professionals. WBL prioritizes recruiting expert contributors who have pursued tertiary education, such as a law degree or a master’s degree in a relevant field. The WBL team requires expert contributors to have at least two years of professional experience. As an exception, graduate students can contribute to WBL questionnaires.

In general, the WBL team requires expert contributors to have at least two years of professional experience. As an exception, graduate students can contribute to WBL questionnaires.

Expert contributors are welcome to refer their colleagues as prospective expert contributors to the WBL project. In fact, we encourage referrals since they help us expand out contributor base and obtain the most accurate data. Should referrals meet the selection criteria, the WBL team will invite them to answer a questionnaire.

Yes, if you want to; no, if you do not want to. 

When answering the questionnaire, contributors are asked whether they want their names and other professional information to be published. If they want that information to be published, then we will publish it. However, if they prefer that their personal information is not published, we will respect their publication preferences. Regardless of their publication preferences, all expert contributors will receive a certificate of appreciation.

Questions related to participation

Generally, WBL selects expert contributors based on their affiliation with a firm, organization, or institution, to ensure accuracy of data and accountability. However, this is not always the case, and there are contributors who respond in an individual capacity, or who choose anonymity. In those cases, we respect the person’s publication preferences and refrain from mentioning one’s name and/or firm or affiliation.  

Each questionnaire includes a section for expert contributors to provide their publication preferences and what information, if any, they wish to be published.

Yes. Expert contributors are invited to refer colleagues or other professionals. The WBL team will then conduct an expertise assessment and based on the outcome of the assessment, we will directly invite the referred individual by sending a personalized survey with a uniquely generated link addressed to the referred professional.

Yes. Sharing your certificate of appreciation in social media and with professional networks is welcomed. 

Please note that while a certificate of appreciation can be shared on social media, this is not proof of employment or formal affiliation with the World Bank Group.

No. Every single survey received from an expert contributor in any of the 190 economies covered by WBL questionnaires is strictly on a pro-bono basis.

We do not print or send physical copies of the report, but the team is happy to provide updates about the project, including information about the release of the report. Expert contributors may expect to receive a link to the WBL report by email and be able to register for a launch event, typically occurring in the first trimester of the year.

Questionnaire completion related questions

In general, no, but please note that some questions are mandatory. For the non-mandatory questions, please consider that the WBL team values the knowledge and expertise of expert contributors, and it is highly appreciated when all questions are responded. 

If an expert contributor specializes in one specific area and is not familiar with all areas covered in the questionnaire, they can ask a qualified colleague to answer those questions. In that case, the name and contact information of the colleague can be indicated as an additional expert contributor.

In general, no. However, once a questionnaire is submitted, changes are generally not allowed to maintain data integrity. If a contributor notices any errors or needs to make corrections, they should contact the WBL team immediately to discuss the possibility of editing their answers.

The time commitment to answer WBL questionnaires varies depending on the topic of the questionnaire and the expert contributor’s familiarity with the topic.

No. We understand that technical problems occur. However, because data integrity is of the highest importance to WBL, in case of technical issues, contributors are welcome to email the WBL team at wbl@worldbank.org for assistance in solving the problem.

Yes. WBL questionnaires are available in English, French, Spanish, Arabic and Russian. Expert contributors are welcome to inform the WBL team if they wish to complete a questionnaire in the language of their preference from our five official languages.

Yes. All responses are verified by the WBL team against the corresponding primary sources before data is analyzed.

Yes. Expert contributors are welcome to collaborate with colleagues in completing the questionnaire. If they do, the names of all "additional contributors" should be properly listed so the WBL team can acknowledge their contributions.

The deadline for questionnaire completion is typically one month after the expert contributor receives the survey, but extensions may be granted depending on the circumstances.

Yes. Expert contributors can respond to multiple topics (family law and access to finance, labor law and childcare policies, and violence against women) if they are familiar with the subject matter and are able to conduct relevant research for those topics.

Yes. Expert contributors will receive a copy of their responses to the questionnaire in PDF format.

Report Impact

Every response informs WBL’s data and findings. All questionnaire answers are analyzed and verified against the corresponding primary sources. Additionally, the data undergoes a thorough internal review process in which comments are received from across the World Bank Group.

WBL data are widely used and have had real impact informing legal and policy reforms in several countries, including Azerbaijan, Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Gabon, Jordan, Madagascar, Togo, Sierra Leone, Uzbekistan and Vietnam. Further, by evidencing the positive link between gender-equal laws and positive development outcomes, WBL data has informed several World Bank’s lending and technical assistance operations since its inception, providing the analytical underpinnings for project design and enabling scalable reforms.

Learn more on the “Our Impact” page.

Women, Business and the Law (WBL) engages with governments to promote fairness and transparency throughout all stages of the report production cycle.  An effective engagement strategy supports the exchange of views, enhances understanding of the WBL methodology, and contributes to an accurate assessment of the legal and regulatory frameworks. Collaboration with government counterparts is essential for maintaining data integrity.

The WBL team invites governments to designate focal points to engage with the WBL. Focal points serve as the primary government contacts and are typically officials from ministries, agencies, or other public institutions with subject-matter expertise relevant to WBL.

Beyond the data collection process, the WBL team engages with governments in different settings that may include other participants, such as the report launch events, methodology workshops, dissemination activities, and engagements with civil society organizations. In addition, governments are invited to meet with the WBL team through bilateral engagements.

To streamline the collection of data from the public sector, at the beginning of each WBL cycle, government focal points are identified in coordination with the relevant Executive Directors, in accordance with the procedures detailed in section 5.2.9, General communication with the Board of Executive Directors. 

The WBL team invites designated focal points to complete WBL questionnaires and provide input for their economies. The questionnaires cover all the questions related to the legal and supportive frameworks measured by WBL; enforcement perception questions are not reflected in these questionnaires.  

Government focal points are invited to submit their responses within the set timeline. Focal points are responsible for coordinating and overseeing the completion of all topics and stand-alone WBL questionnaires for their respective economy.

Completion of the WBL topic questionnaires are coordinated by designated Government Focal Points, who may, as appropriate, engage relevant ministries or public institutions to provide inputs.

Government Focal points consolidate inputs across agencies and submit questionnaire responses to WBL, ensuring they reflect the most current legal and policy frameworks.

Depending on the questionnaire topic, contributing institutions typically include:

  • Family law and access to finance: Ministries responsible for justice, family affairs, social development, or civil affairs.

  • Labor law and childcare services: Ministries responsible for labor, employment, social protection, or workforce development.

  • Violence against women legislation and services: Ministries responsible for women’s affairs, gender equality, justice, or social services.

While governments are welcome to designate focal points responsible for specific topic questionnaires or involve multiple institutions, WBL encourages governments to appoint a single Focal Point to support efficient communication, consistency, and continuity throughout the data collection and validation process.

Government focal points are invited to submit completed topic questionnaires by September 30, 2026. Should an extension of the deadline be necessary, governments are encouraged to notify the WBL team accordingly. For any inquiries regarding the submission of topic questionnaires and deadlines, please contact: wblengagement@worldbank.org.

Women, Business and the Law utilizes the information provided by governments through completion of questionnaires for data validation purposes only. This information helps identify the most recent legal and policy initiatives and addresses gaps in information from previous cycles through firsthand knowledge. This information surfaces the most recent legal and policy initiatives and, drawing on firsthand knowledge, addresses information gaps.

If your government has appointed you as the Women, Business, and the Law Focal Point and you have not yet been contacted, please email the WBL Team at wblengagement@worldbank.org. Our team will verify the information internally and follow up accordingly.

While WBL encourages governments to appoint a Government Focal Point to ensure effective coordination and consistency during the report production process, WBL welcomes engagements with government representatives to provide project details and address inquiries.

To request an introductory bilateral meeting, please complete the following  form.

Women, Business and the Law (WBL) provides support to governments by offering a variety of engagement and learning opportunities coordinated via Government Focal Points. These include introductory bilateral meetings that present an overview of the project, technical bilateral meetings to address data-related questions, and in-depth methodology workshops that provide practical guidance over WBL topics, indicators, and validation processes. 

Governments are also invited to participate in WBL webinars and events, including report launches at the national, regional, and global levels. These activities support a shared understanding of the WBL methodology, data collection and validation processes, and report findings

To request an introductory bilateral meeting, technical bilateral meeting, or in-depth methodology workshops, please complete the following form.

The information provided by governments is managed and stored within Women, Business and the Law internal Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system. This data is collected, processed, and stored in accordance with the Personal Data Privacy and the Bank Directive on Personal Data Privacy Request and Review Mechanisms.

Expert Contributions from public sector are acknowledged on the Women, Business and the Law website, indicating the relevant line ministries or agencies that provide responses.

The Women, Business and the Law team ensures transparency by sharing information about government acknowledgments, bilateral meetings, along with the workshops calendar. This encompasses both videoconferences and in-person meetings, scheduled regularly upon request.

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Women, Business and the Law is a World Bank Group flagship initiative providing comparable data on laws and policies in 190 economies that shape women’s economic participation and drive growth.

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