World Bank Knowledge for Change Program – Full Proposal Template Basic Data: Title Fostering Women's Economic Inclusion with Edutainment and Behavioral Nudges in Mauritius Linked Project ID P171809 Product Line RA Applied Amount ($) $230,000 Est. Project Period 03/15/2020i -06/30/2021**ii Team Leader(s) Marco Ranzani, Managing Unit DECPI Eeshani Kandpal, Isis Gaddis Contributing unit(s) EA1PV, DECPI, HGNDR Funding Window Poverty and Shared Prosperity Regions/Countries Country/Countries (please Mauritius specify) General: 1. What is the Development Objective (or main objective) of this Grant? The objective of this proposal is to assess whether exposing low educated married women who do not participate in the labor force and their husbands/partners to an educational entertainment (or “edutainment”) program can change individual preferences, perception of social norms, and ultimately behaviors related to women’s participation in the labor market. The edutainment program will promote a positive image of working women as well as of husbands that share responsibilities for household chores with their working wives in an entertaining format that is relatable at an emotional level. This will be accompanied by behavioral nudges with the goal of providing psychological tools to thrive through the journey of looking for a job. By studying the interaction between these two interventions, the project will contribute to the emerging literature linking aspirations, agency, and pathways. The objective of this proposal builds on the findings of a series of analytical pieces delivered by the Poverty and Equity GP over the past 4 FYs. Inequality has increased in Mauritius over the past decade and this has held back progress in poverty reduction. An in-depth analysis of the root causes of rising inequality identifies gender gaps in the labor market as one of the causes, together with a very rapid increase in the demand for high-skill labor that outpaced the increase in supply. As of 2018, the labor force participation rate among women remained low at 45 percent, compared to 73 percent among men. A sizeable gender gap emerges from the ages of 20-25 years onwards, as women get married, have children and often drop out of the labor force. Over 65 percent of inactive women have at best achieved a certificate of primary education (CPE) and 1 in 2 belong to households that are in the bottom 40 percent of the income distribution. Harnessing the potential of all, including women, is therefore key to unleashing the full productivity potential of Page 1 of 13 World Bank Knowledge for Change Program – Full Proposal Template countries like Mauritius that are facing rapid aging of their population and have large gender gaps, and to ensuring that benefits of growth are widely shared. 2. Summary description of Grant financed activities The grant will support the design and implementation of the edutainment program and behavioral intervention, the baseline survey and the first follow-up survey. 3. What are the main risks related to the Grant financed activity? Are there any potential conflicts of interest for the Bank? How will these risks/conflicts be monitored and managed? There are no substantial risks to the grant financed activity. The ASA project, P171809, is approved; the team has established close working relationships with the relevant government counterparts (the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development, the Ministry of Labour, Industrial Relations, Employment and Training, the Economic Development Board, etc.), thanks to the continuous support provided over the past 4 years through both analytical work and technical assistance. The implementation of the third and fourth follow-up surveys, which will allow to measure medium and long- term effects of the interventions, are conditional on receiving financing through the G²LM|LIC program or other channels. Some implementation delays associated with the hiring of firms to produce the edutainment intervention and collect baseline and follow up data are possible. However, this risk is considered minimal, as the team has already contacted several media and survey firms, and built additional lead time into the proposal, as per the guidance received during the consultation process, to minimize any delays. The team does not foresee any potential conflicts of interest. 4. (Optional question) What can/has been done to find an alternative source of financing, i.e. instead of a Bank administered Grant? The proposal has the support of Bank budget under the ASA code (P171809). The team is seeking additional funding to support the full research project from the IZA/DFID Programme on Gender, Growth and Labour Markets in Low-Income Countries (G²LM|LIC) and potentially other funding sources. KCPIII Specific: 1. How does (do) the objective(s) of this proposal align with the World Bank Group’s twin goals? What are the key thematic research questions being addressed in this research? Alignment with the World Bank Group’s twin goals. Narrowing gender gaps is not just desirable from a social equity perspective, but it is also associated with higher growth, more favorable development outcomes, and lower inequality. The intervention holds significant promise for using unconventional interventions, such as edutainment and behavioral nudges, in low and middle income countries in Africa or Asia with low levels of female labor force participation, especially among households at the bottom of the welfare distribution, and traditional gender norms as a tool to change social norms, increase female labor force participation and promote economic inclusion. Identifying paths that can foster women’s inclusion in the labor market can help improve the livelihoods of low-income households. In addition, raising women’s participation in the labor market can increase GDP growth and make up for population. While it is Page 2 of 13 World Bank Knowledge for Change Program – Full Proposal Template methodologically challenging to estimate or simulate reliable effects of gender gaps on economic performance, a large body of theoretical and empirical work suggests that narrowing gender gaps in human capital and labor market outcomes can improve economic performance – for example, by allowing for a more productive use of female labor and through positive externalities on children’s human capital (see Klasen 2002; Klasen and Lamanna 2009; ILO 2017; McKinsey Global Institute 2015; Bertay et al 2018; Klasen 2018). This is in line with the twin goals adopted in 2013 by the World Bank Group: to end extreme poverty globally by 2030, and to promote shared prosperity in every country by improving the living standards of the bottom 40 percent of the population in every country. The project also supports the strategic objectives of the World Bank Group’s Gender Strategy, especially those related to removing constraints for more and better jobs among women and improving women’s voice and agency. It further contributes to at least 3 of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals that in September 2015 the member states of the United Nations adopted together with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. In particular, the project would contribute to achieve SDG 5, SDG 8, and SDG 10 that focus on promoting gender equality, decent work and economic growth for all, and reducing inequalities. Motivation and Key Thematic Research Questions. Despite the progress achieved over the last quarter of a century, still today women are globally less likely to participate in the labor market than men. At 48.5 per cent in 2018, women’s global labor force participation rate is 26.5 percentage points lower than that of men (table 1). The gender gap is closing in high-income countries (ILO 2019), where in 2018 it stood at 15 percentage points. By contrast, the gap is still considerable in low- and middle-income countries. In 2018 the highest participation rate for women was 64 per cent in low income countries, mainly driven by poor economic conditions and lack of social protection system that make women’s contribution to family income a necessity, and it was as low as 35 percent in middle income countries. It is especially large in the Middle East, North Africa, and South Asia. Gender gaps in labor market participation are ascribable to a number of factors that together with life-cycle circumstances, the ILO (2017) has grouped into three broad categories: (i) personal preferences, (ii) socio-economic constraints, and (iii) gender role conformity. All three groups of factors are ultimately affected by the prevailing social norms in the society where women live. Women’s preference for engaging in paid work is also the by-product of what is perceived to be legitimate in her personal circumstances and the social context. Socio-economic constraints are a set of institutional, economic and physical constraints that can affect the likelihood of participating in the labor market of both men and women. For example, the legal framework of the tax system might disincentivize the work of women if it imposes higher marginal tax rates on secondary earners; lack of affordable child (and other family members in need) care facilities is a burden for households as a whole, but it ultimately affects women due to their assigned role of caregivers. In addition, discrimination in terms of payment, hiring, promotion further contributes to create gender gaps. Policies themselves are to some extent the by-product of social norms and can affect socio-economic constraints and reinforce social norms. The role of norms in determining gender roles is not to be underestimated: some norm-driven outcomes appear very difficult to alter; female household bargaining power, labor force participation, and child malnutrition are two classic examples that do not necessarily change with increases in income (Haddad et al. 2003), access to information (Kabeer 1999), or other social interventions (Lokshin et al. 2005). On the other hand, increasing evidence suggests that these very outcomes change rapidly under changing social norms or expectations (Munshi and Myaux 2006, Jensen and Oster2009, Chong and La Ferrara 2009, La Ferrara, Chong, and Duryea 2012).