© Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation I Jemal Countess I Melinda French Gates meets with African Finance Ministers at the Center for Global Development during the IMF/World Bank Spring Meetings in Washington, D.C. I 2023

Development Policy & Finance

Gender-Equitable Macroeconomic Policy for Low and Middle Income Countries

This report reviews the current state of research and knowledge on key gendered economic structures relevant for macroeconomic performance and gender-intentional macroeconomic policy in the context of lower- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Deficits in both theory and data that might usefully inform policymaking, as well as explanations for delays in adoption of best policymaking practices in this area, are identified. The report also proposes promising areas of grantmaking. The report contributes to the existing literature by focusing on macroeconomic policy in LMICs, by exploring specific areas of academic scholarship where progress might be most impactful in terms of gendered analysis, by identifying opportunities for improved and innovative gender-disaggregated data collection to inform macroeconomic policymaking in lower-income countries, and by discussing the political economy of gender-intentional macroeconomic policymaking.

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