Women, Business and the Law 2.0 presents new measures of frameworks that support the implementation of laws for gender equality across all 10 indicators in the index. Each legal frameworks indicator is now complemented by a supportive frameworks indicator and an expert opinions indicator that assess existing public policies through a gender lens.
The Women, Business and the Law 2.0 supportive frameworks indicators are composed of measurements of the elements that reinforce the legal framework supporting women’s economic participation. These elements include budgets; data; policy incentives; entities charged with legal implementation (including courts); procedures aimed at implementing legal norms; services; programs; and strategies and action plans aimed at advancing gender equality. Starting with the Women, Business and the Law 2024 report, a supportive frameworks index has been constructed for 190 economies.
The Women, Business and the Law team also collected the opinions of in-country legal experts on their perceptions of the outcomes that the laws measured by the Women, Business and the Law 2.0 legal index intend to influence. Experts’ responses on how well existing laws, or a lack thereof, operate in practice can serve as evidence on what shapes women’s decisions to participate in the workforce or start a business. Starting with the Women, Business and the Law 2024 report, an expert opinions index has been constructed for 164 economies.
Starting with the collection of pilot data on supportive frameworks and expert opinions for 25 economies in 2021, the team expanded its reach to 55 economies in 2022. The findings of the pilot data confirmed that laws alone are not enough to improve gender equality and make clear that these gaps should be further explored.
The team welcomes feedback on the methodology and construction of this set of indicators, and it looks forward to improving their coverage and scope. Comments can be offered by contacting the Women, Business and the Law team at wbl@worldbank.org.
