What We're Reading
New data from the World Bank’s Women, Business and the Law (WBL) project provide the first cross-country baseline on how income tax systems integrate gender in law, tax administration, and fiscal reporting. Drawing on information from 81 economies, the data examine three core areas: (1) personal income tax filing rules; (2) tax provisions that treat women and men differently; and (3) tax administration and reporting practices, including sex-disaggregated data and gender analysis in tax expenditure reports. The findings show that tax systems may overlook realities specific to women, leading to unequal outcomes for women and men. The Brief highlights policy options for governments seeking to ensure that tax systems work equitably for women and men. These options include shifting toward individual taxation and removing family-based provisions that disadvantage secondary earners; reviewing and phasing out tax measures that differ for women and men; investing in sex-disaggregated tax data systems; and integrating gender into tax expenditure reporting and incidence analysis. This Brief is the first in a three-part series on gender and fiscal policy. Subsequent Briefs will examine gender-responsive budgeting and synthesize lessons across taxation and spending.
Despite significant strides toward gender equality, women around the world continue to encounter systemic obstacles that hinder their entrepreneurial success. This paper systematically reviews the literature on the barriers female entrepreneurs face and the solutions proposed to overcome these challenges. It discusses institutional factors, financial factors, human capital factors, and social and cultural factors. The literature overview is complemented by a series of stylized facts that illustrate how overcoming some of these existing barriers is correlated with improved women’s entrepreneurship and female labor force participation, drawing on the World Bank’s Women, Business and the Law database as well as the World Bank’s Enterprise Surveys. The findings underscore the need for creating an enabling environment where women can thrive as entrepreneurs.
Despite making up 34% of businesses, women-owned MSMEs continue to face a staggering $1.9 trillion financing gap in emerging and developing markets. The hurdles are familiar: a lack of collateral, limited credit history and digital footprint, gaps in the legal environment and banking policies, and a mismatch of products and services. In many markets, financial institutions have overlooked women and women-owned enterprises as a distinct asset class, despite their pivotal role in driving economic growth and job creation across the manufacturing, tourism, agribusiness, and services industries.
This playbook provides practical guidance for advancing women’s financial and digital inclusion. It explores the key barriers women face, from social norms and skills gaps to market and policy constraints, and outlines concrete actions stakeholders can take to address them.
Designed for policymakers, financial service providers, and development practitioners, the playbook offers frameworks, examples, and actionable recommendations to help design more inclusive policies, programs, and financial solutions for women.
Women-owned and women-led MSMEs (W-MSMEs) represent an estimated 38 percent of MSMEs globally, yet they face persistent financing gaps, partly because most countries lack robust gender disaggregated MSME data.
Strengthening these systems enables evidence-based policy, inclusive finance, and improved risk oversight. This toolkit helps strengthen gender responsive MSME data systems by providing practical guidance, assessment tools, and good practices. It supports policymakers, regulators, and data producers seeking to integrate gender considerations into MSME definitions, indicators, and reporting frameworks.
This report offers the latest global assessment of how laws, policies, and practices shape women’s economic opportunities across 10 topics relating to their working lives: Safety, Mobility, Work, Pay, Marriage, Parenthood, Childcare, Entrepreneurship, Assets, and Pension.
This 11th edition of Women, Business and the Law introduces methodological refinements that capture not only laws on the books but also the policies and institutions that support their implementation, as well as expert perceptions of whether those laws translate into real-world practices.
This brief examines how unpaid childcare responsibilities limit women’s time, mobility, and opportunities to launch and scale businesses across diverse country contexts. While legal reforms are improving, major gaps remain in the availability, affordability, and implementation of quality childcare services. The paper emphasizes that investing in childcare—alongside addressing gender norms and supporting care-sector entrepreneurs—is essential for boosting women’s economic participation. It positions the care economy as both a development priority and an untapped market opportunity.
This joint report by ERIA, ADB, and METI examines the evolving role of transition finance, technology, and policy in supporting the decarbonisation of Southeast Asia’s emissions-intensive sectors such as power and heavy industry – the so-called ‘high emissions’ and ‘hard-to-abate’ sectors, respectively. These sectors are highlighted in high-level roadmaps that identify key investment areas for a pragmatic energy transition.
This report provides insights on the structural and gender-specific barriers faced by micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises in Cambodia and highlights potential solutions.
Drawing on extensive data and stakeholder insights, it reveals how unequal access to knowledge, finance, and networks can hold back enterprises owned by women. The report sets out targeted policy recommendations for inclusive economic development where women entrepreneurs are empowered to lead in the digital and green economy.
This paper analyzes the dynamics of microfinance in Georgia, combining household survey results with financial and policy data to assess how the sector supports poverty reduction and inclusion.
It identifies structural and regulatory barriers and proposes ways to expand microfinance services. It offers insights for policymakers, financial institutions, and development partners seeking to promote inclusive growth.
This report aims to shed light on the demand, availability, risks, constraints, and opportunities related to Pacific women entrepreneurs’ access to insurance. The research presented will contribute to informing the formulation of recommendations to strengthen the capacity of PICs to deliver insurance products that build women’s resilience, support their entrepreneurial activities, and promote broader economic empowerment.
This publication reviews the landscape of micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) in 26 countries in Asia and the Pacific. Accompanied by a database, it aims to support policymakers in promoting MSME development and resilience.
Based on evidence from over 400 MSMEs, it shows how micro businesses are less likely to use technology in their operations and highlights how skills shortages, cybersecurity concerns, and inadequate infrastructure affect adoption. It explains the need to target women entrepreneurs and examines how a comprehensive strategy that involves personalized training, better access to digital expertise, and stronger digital finance programs can increase skills and drive inclusion.
Closing the financing gap for women owned/led micro, small, and medium enterprises (WMSMEs) represents a multi-trillion-dollar business opportunity for the financial services industry. But as with all customer segments, tapping into the WMSMEs opportunity requires data, which is critical to understand the unique needs and preferences of women entrepreneurs and to properly serve them.
This working paper explores how inclusive systems and financial tools can help vulnerable populations better withstand and adapt to escalating climate shocks. It highlights the untapped potential of leveraging existing social protection frameworks, such as digital registries and cash delivery systems, to channel climate finance more quickly and equitably to those most at risk. Drawing on real-world examples and evidence, the paper argues that integrating climate funds with established social safety nets and inclusive financial services can expand reach, improve efficiency, and strengthen long-term resilience outcomes for households and communities facing climate impacts.
Cyber Resilience for Financial Inclusion
Threat Landscape Report
This report highlights significant cybersecurity gaps among organizations working to expand financial services to underserved communities across the Asia-Pacific region. The assessment found widespread issues such as misconfigured systems, weak web and email security, and exposed credentials, leaving both organizations and the vulnerable populations they serve at heightened risk. The report emphasizes that strengthening basic cyber hygiene, adopting multi-factor authentication, and improving overall security practices are essential to protect financial inclusion efforts from disruption and exploitation.
The newly released Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) 2024/2025 Women’s Entrepreneurship Report: Navigating Challenges, Driving Change reveals that while women entrepreneurs continue to demonstrate remarkable resilience and innovation, they still encounter persistent barriers that hinder their full participation in the entrepreneurial ecosystem.
Drawing on insights from 161,528 adults across 51 countries, this year’s report sheds light on these challenges—highlighting, among other findings, the differing reasons women and men cite for closing a business.
This report examines the issues and policy solutions used around the world to develop women’s entrepreneurship financing. It is aligned with the principles of the OECD Council Recommendation on SME Financing, which underlines the need to develop a wide range of financing options for entrepreneurs and recognise differences between different entrepreneur profiles, and builds on the findings of the OECD flagship report Financing SMEs and Entrepreneurs Scoreboard as well as broader OECD work on women entrepreneurship, including the report on Entrepreneurship Policy through a Gender Lens.
By evaluating gender-specific factors across economies, the index highlights how successful female entrepreneurs contribute to economic and social development. It also assesses domestic strengths and weaknesses in cultivating supportive environments.