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Gender differences have long been documented in earnings, employment opportunities, and time spent within the unpaid care economy. This paper joins the recent efforts in the economics literature on gender differences in asset ownership. Specifically, it investigates whether a gender-specific composition in asset ownership between heads of households and spouses can be detected among low-income, urban households in Bangkok, Thailand. The present case study explores this issue empirically, using a sample of 134 couples from a 2002 survey that collected data at the level of the individual respondent on accumulated physical and financial assets. Both husband and wife were interviewed separately and the data gathered from the interviews include pertinent household and individual information on employment, credit and household decisionmaking issues. The findings suggest that asset composition varies by gender, indicating that further investigation is warranted on this topic. Tobit and Probit tests are used to examine the factors that may affect this gendered pattern. -- asset distribution ; gender ; Thailand

Reviews current tensions and trends regarding gender roles and gender equality opportunities, and the emerging patterns of work among men and women, incl. access to employment, fairness of income, security at work, social protection, and freedom of association. Looks into the effect of unpaid work on labour market participation, time allocation, labour market participation, and domestic and care work. Concludes with policy implications, reflecting the roles of governments, the ILO and international bodies, and labour unions and women's organizations.

We investigate vertical linkages between formal and informal financial institutions. Specifically, we study a policy that expands formal credit to informal lenders, in the hope that this will improve loan terms for borrowers who are shut out of the formal sector. We pay special attention to the Philippines. We argue that the effects of stronger vertical links depend upon the form of lender competition. In particular, if the relationship between lenders is one of strategic cooperation (sustained by threats of reprisal in a repeated setting), an expansion of formal credit may worsen the terms faced by informal borrowers.