Explaining Gender Differences in Economic Outcomes in Burkina Faso

Abstract Understanding gender disparities is essential for effective economic development policy. In this paper, we examine gender gaps in Burkina Faso using nationally representative data from 2014, 2019 and 2021—a period that spans the onset of a jihadist insurgency that has displaced over two million people and destabilized much of the country and the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. Our analysis finds that women’s labor force participation (LFP) is 10 percentage points lower than men’s in 2019, while their wage earnings are 82% lower, business revenues are 61% lower, and harvest value is 61% lower. Between 2014 and 2019, the gender gaps in LFP, business revenues and crop sales did not change, but increased significantly for wage earnings and (to a lesser extent) for harvest value. Between 2019 and 2021, the gender gaps in wage earnings and harvest value narrowed significantly—to 55% and 52%, respectively—while the gaps in LFP, business revenues and crop sales remained statistically unchanged. Using decomposition analysis, we find that women’s lack of capital and male workers, lack of control over income and lower economic benefits from marriage—along with lower levels of skills and farming inputs—have the largest associations with the gaps. The persistence of most of these gaps during a period of escalating armed conflict underlines the urgency of addressing structural gender inequalities in fragile settings. We provide evidence-based policy recommendations for reducing these gaps.