Women and markets: a problem in the assessment of sexual inequality
Peasant marketplaces have enjoyed a reputation as institutions that free women from the sexual discrimination and sexual inequality found in other social contexts. Mintz (1971) argues that market work places a premium on intelligence and decisiveness instead of heavy manual labor, and therefore that market trade tends to be dominated by women. Boserup (1970) has demonstrated that the portion of women in trade is higher than in other occupations in less developed economies. In Bolivia, market women are both geographically and socially mobile, using their trade activities to finance either urban residence or multiple residences (Buechler 1976). Waterbury's (1968) account of the strength of the Oaxacan market union (many of whose members were women) indicates that marketers could depose high government officials and influence policy decisions on a state level. In Haiti, Bolivia, or Mesoamerica, middlewomen appear to have attained an independence and equality which, Mintz (1971) suggests, our own society might emulate. He (Mintz 1971:268) concludes: MWho is more modern, more western, more developed: a barefoot and illiterate Yoruba market woman who daily risks her security and her capital in vigorous individual competition with others like herself; or a Smith College graduate who spends her days ferrying her husband to the Westport railroad station and her children to ballet classes?" Anthropologists with a less optimistic view of markets as arenas of feminine achievement have seldom directly compared men and women in a marketing context. Bossen's (1984) study of women's work in Guatemala unites storekeepers and market vendors in a common category of "commercial occupations." Bossen (1984:78, 358) notes that the must successful stores are those run co-operatively by both spouses, with individual women enjoying less success. Only one male in her study ran his business as an individual, making it difficult for her to isolate sex as opposed to the number of persons involved in the venture as a factor in success. Babb's (1985) study of petty commercial ventures in Huaraz, Peru, stresses the predominance of women in a sphere that she regards as dependent on uneven capitalist development and offering little autonomy to individual vendors. The primary interest in Babb's article is the marginality of the petty commercial sector in the development process, not issues of sexual disparity within that sector. While both these studies present a picture considerably less optimistic than does Mintz, their findings do not directly contradict his suggestions that marketing opens opportunities to women unavailable in other sectors of the economy. This article presents data from an urban Guatemalan marketplace that contradicts an image of market-based sexual equality. Most women sell goods that carry the highest risks, the lowest profits, and the least potential for amassing wealth. While Guatemalan market women are probably more
What Is Sexual Inequality? On the Definition and Range of Variation
Male dominance has been conceived as a constant, but an emerging consensus holds that sexual inequality ranges cross-culturally from extreme male dominance to equality of women and men. This consensus is examined in light of five cross-cultural works expressing different variants of it. None of these works has presented data showing the distribution of societies along the continuum of sexual inequality. Each work defines sexual inequality in a multivariate fashion, but dimensions within theories do not appear to be strongly intercorrelated and different theories posit differing dimensions. There is not full agreement among the works as to whether certain indicators show more or less sexual inequality. If there are no data, if there is no overall empirical dimension of sexual inequality, and if there is no agreement on what the dimensions of sexual inequality are, then the emerging consensus on the range of variation is a myth and not a product of new discoveries. This myth may provide a charter for gender research and action and may enhance the cohesion of the community of scholars in gender studies. Nonetheless, this myth impedes an understanding of sexual inequality. Suggestions for advancing beyond this myth are given.
Economics of Disaster Risk and Resilience in Small Island Developing States
The four essays investigate the impacts and implications of climate change and disasters in Small Island Developing States (SIDS) in the Pacific by examining disaster risk, resilience, response, and recovery in Tuvalu.  The first chapter starts with a survey on the conceptual framework of disaster risk which relies on its associated components of hazard, vulnerability and exposure. It is an introductory literature review that sets the scene for the other chapters. It is not intended to make an original contribution nor a critical review of the literature justified to be publishable. How we measure these risks depends on how we define disaster risk and its components. Though there are diverse views on these definitions in different disciplines, we can capitalise on their commonalities to frame disaster risk models.  The second chapter investigates the vulnerability of households to climatic disasters in Tuvalu. Small Island Developing States, particularly the atoll islands, are considered to be the most vulnerable to climatic change, and in particular to sea-level rise and its associated risks. From the Tuvalu Statistics Department household survey, we construct poverty and hardship profiles for households on the different islands of Tuvalu, and combine these with geographic and topographic information to assess the exposure differentials among different groups using spatial econometric models. Besides the observation that households in hardship are more vulnerable to negative shocks because they lack the resources to respond, we also find that they are also more likely to reside in highly exposed areas to disasters (closer to the coasts and at lower elevation) and have less ability to migrate (between and within the islands).  The third chapter examines cyclones. The intensity of cyclones in the Pacific is predicted to increase and sea levels are predicted to rise, so an atoll nation like Tuvalu can serve as the `canary in the coal mine' pointing to the new risks that are emerging because of climatic change. Based on a household survey we conducted in Tuvalu, we quantify the impacts of Tropical Cyclone Pam (March 2015) on households, and the determinants of these impacts in terms of hazard, exposure, vulnerability and responsiveness. Households experienced significant damage due to the storm surge caused by the cyclone, even though the cyclone itself passed very far away (about a 1,000 km). This risk of distant cyclones has been overlooked in the literature, and ignoring it leads to significant under-estimation of the disaster risk facing low-lying atoll islands. Lastly, we constructed hypothetical policy scenarios, and calculated the estimated loss and damage they would have been associated with { a first step in building careful assessments of the feasibility of various disaster risk reduction policies.  The fourth chapter examines the financing of disaster risk management. Future climate and disaster risks are likely to impose increasing financial pressure on the governments of low-lying atoll nations. The aftermath of a disaster such as a cyclone requires financial means for quick response and recovery. Hence, we quantify appropriate levels of financial support for expected disasters in Tuvalu and Kiribati by building on the Pacific Catastrophe Risk Assessment and Financing Initiative (PCRAFI) calculated likely costs for disasters. To these, we add estimates of the potential effects of distant cyclones, droughts, sea level rise and climate change as they are predicted to affect low-lying atoll islands. There are several potential financial instruments available for disaster risk management in the Pacific Islands. We focus on the potential contribution of the sovereign wealth funds (SWF) of Tuvalu and Kiribati in reducing reliance on foreign aid for both ex-ante and ex-post disaster risk management. We forecast the future size of the SWF using Monte Carlo simulations and an Auto-Regressive Integrated Moving Average model. We examine the long-term sustainability of the SWF, and the feasibility of extending their mandate to cover and pay for at least some climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction.