www.ictsd.org

Kati SUOMINEN, Founder & CEO of Nextrade Group

Women-led firms in ecommerce1 October 2018 | Geneva, Switzerland

KATI SUOMINEN

Enabling Environment for Ecommerce

$$

Digital regulations

Access to finance

Ecommerce logistics and trade facilitation

Payment solutions

ICT infrastructure and services

E-skills

Business regulations

Small female- and male-led firms are just about equally likely to buy and sell online

Source: Nextrade Group surveys of 779 firms in nine developing economies in December-January 2016-17 and August 2018. The first survey and original survey design was accomplished with the support of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

Female- and male-led small firms with different online activity are equally likely to export

Source: Nextrade Group surveys of 779 firms in nine developing economies in December-January 2016-17 and August 2018. The first survey and original survey design was accomplished with the support of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

Similar trends for mid-size and large firms

Source: Nextrade Group surveys of 779 firms in nine developing economies in December-January 2016-17 and August 2018. The first survey and original survey design was accomplished with the support of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

Women-led small firms that export are typically as diversified or more diversified in their export markets as men-led firms

Source: Nextrade Group surveys of 779 firms in nine developing economies in December-January 2016-17 and August 2018. The first survey and original survey design was accomplished with the support of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

Firm size is an extremely consistent predictor of firms’ online sales and export activity, gender is not

Source: Nextrade Group surveys of 779 firms in nine developing economies in December-January 2016-17 and August 2018. The first survey and original survey design was accomplished with the support of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

% of firms that export

Female- and male-led firms also report challenges of similar magnitude in the enabling environment for ecommerce

Source: Nextrade Group surveys of 779 firms in nine developing economies in December-January 2016-17 and August 2018. The first survey and original survey design was accomplished with the support of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

1= very poor 10 = excellent

Again, firm’s size predicts the severity of barriers it faces

Source: Nextrade Group surveys of 1,449 firms in Latin America in December-January 2016-17 and October 2017. The first survey and original survey design was accomplished with the support of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Access to trade finance

Overall regulatory environment for doing cross-border business

Ecommerce-related logistics

Digital regulations for cross-border ecommerce

My teams' capacity for cross-border ecommerce

Connectivity and IT infrastructure

Online payments

Small (0-50 employees) Medium (51-250) Large (>250)

1= very poor 10 = excellent

Female- and male-led firms share some of similar reasons for not starting to sell online

Source: Nextrade Group survey of 245 firms in nine developing economies in August 2018.

Why no difference between men- and women-led firms?

• y = x1, x2 , x3 , x4 , x5 , x6

• Many variables shape firms’ performance and challenges, typically:• Size• Location• Whether exports• Whether sells online

• Gender of the CEO is only one potential variable, and it may not matter at all

Where the difference does lie: share of women-led firms

Source: Nextrade Group surveys of 779 firms in nine developing economies in December-January 2016-17 and August 2018. The first survey and original survey design was accomplished with the support of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

Top-25 barriers in SE Asia1 Availability of early-stage funding and growth capital2 IP protections in other markets 3 Availability of working capital loans (from banks etc.)4 Postal services for cross-border ecommerce - import or export5 Copyright laws in other markets6 Censorship rules7 OTT regulations (application of telecom and broadcast rules)8 Customs rules for ecommerce imports9 IP protections for ecommerce merchants10 Cyber-security concerns11 Availability of digital finance (online P2P working capital loans, etc.)12 Tax rules in other markets13 Copyright laws14 Availability to trade finance for merchants15 Legal liability laws for online sellers in other markets16 Customs rules for my ecommerce exports17 Preparing taxes for my business18 Legal liability laws for platforms and merchants19 Registering a business20 Tax rules21 Getting permits and licenses for my business22 Customs rules on low-value shipments23 Consumer protection laws24 Data localization requirements25 Consumer protection laws in other markets

1 Availability of digital finance (online P2P working capital loans, etc.)2 Availability of early-stage funding and growth capital3 IP protections for ecommerce merchants4 Cost of cross-border online payments5 Availability of outside working capital loans (from banks etc.)6 IP protections in other markets 7 Customs rules for ecommerce imports8 Availability to trade finance for merchants9 Cyber-security concerns10 Customs rules for my ecommerce exports11 Postal services for cross-border ecommerce - import or export12 OTT regulations (application of telecom and broadcast rules)13 Tax rules14 Legal liability laws for platforms and merchants15 Copyright laws16 Customs rules on low-value shipments17 Legal liability laws for online sellers in other markets18 Tariffs for imports in my own market19 Copyright laws in other markets20 Registering a business21 Consumer protection laws22 Tax rules in other markets23 Foreign exchange restrictions in cross-border payments24 Data privacy requirements25 Licensing regulations for my business in foreign markets

Source: Nextrade Group surveys of 779 firms in nine developing economies in December-January 2016-17 and August 2018. The first survey and original survey design was accomplished with the support of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

Top-25 barriers in Africa

What should the policy then be?

• Help women get in the game: start business (including digitally), start selling and buying online

• Solve the many challenges to ecommerce facing small firms – this inherently helps women-led firms

• Fuel financing for women-led firms and to-be female entrepreneurs, for example by enabling FinTechs and crowdfunding

• Be careful with numbers: many factors other than gender impact firm’s performance

• Critically, get more gender-disaggregated data

www.ictsd.org

Thank you

Kati SUOMINEN, Founder & CEO of Nextrade Group and Founder

www.ictsd.org

Sally SMITH, Researcher & Consultant, Wise Development

The role of standards and financial services in advancing gender equality in value chains

1 October 2018 | Geneva, Switzerland

SALLY SMITH

Voluntary Sustainability Standards (VSS) and gender equality in global value chains (GVCs)

• VSS increasingly applied in GVCs • GAP, environment, human/labour rights, OH&S, etc.

• Codes of conduct for suppliers, Certification/Accreditation (Fairtrade, GlobalGAP, SA8000 etc.)

• Voluntary but can be ‘mandatory’ for market access

• Raising the bar vs. Excluding the weak?

• Limitations of a compliance based approach• Many VSS incorporate technical assistance, projects, etc.

• Recognise need for collaboration

Evidence on VSS and gender equality in GVCs

• Approx. 40% include ≥ 1 gender criteria• Evidence on gender impacts limited, mostly agriculture + Fairtrade, UTZ, RAI

• But can extrapolate VSS model

• Positive results for some women in some contexts• Women workers: minimum wages, regular hours, H&S

• Women farmers: resources, training, influence

• Women business owners: ?? Risk of exclusion

• VSS generally failing to address underlying structural issues• unequal power over resources, land, social norms, discrimination, VAWG, etc.

• Can exacerbate existing inequalities• Don’t reach lower tiers and informal workers in GVCs

Potential for VSS to contribute more to gender equality

• SDGs + smart economics + campaigns + concerns over future supply ++ influencing business (and VSS)

• Gender sensitive VSS can advance gender equality and could enhance competitiveness, strengthen economies

• Needs investment and preferential treatment • Compliance-based approach particularly problematic for

gender

• But are VSS and business sufficiently motivated??

Key Recommendations

• VSS and business should reference international agreements on women’s rights (CEDAW, BFA, Maputo etc.)

• Legitimacy + harmonization

• + Tailored criteria/guidance + TA + collaborate around structural barriers• Preferential market access targeting gender equality (e.g. women’s brands,

preferred suppliers)• Governments should create an enabling environment

• Meet commitments to international agreements; enforce gender-related law

• Gender responsive trade policy

• Collaborate around structural barriers

• Ensure women (workers, producers, MSMEs) are represented• Monitor, measure, report

www.ictsd.org

Thank you

Sally SMITH, Researcher & Consultant, Wise Development

sallyesmith@yahoo.com

Ben SHEPHERD, Principal, Developing Trade Consultants

1 October 2018 | Geneva, Switzerland

Financial Services: The Trade and Gender Nexus

BEN SHEPHERD

1. Gender and Finance: What do the Data Say?

2. The Trade Dimension

3. Policy Implications: What Role (if any) for Trade?

Outline

• World Bank Enterprise Surveys:

• Firm-level data covering economic data, but also information on interactions with the financial system and perceptions of business constraints.

• 135,000 firms in 141 countries.• Narrow down to 36,817 manufacturing firms with relatively good data

• ”Women-owned or –run businesses” means those firms that EITHER:

• Have at least one female owner.• Or have a female senior manager.

• Basic approach is to look at regional averages for financial variables, disaggregating by gender of owner/manager. Sampling weights applied.

• Integrate the trade dimension by introducing observable proxies for GVC participation:

• GVC = exporter*importer*foreign investment

1. Gender and Finance: What do the Data Say?

1. Gender and Finance: What do the Data Say?

Bank Account Overdraft

0%20%40%60%80%

100%

Perc

ent

Region

No Women Women

0%20%40%60%80%

100%

Perc

ent

Region

No Women Women

1. Gender and Finance: What do the Data Say?

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Africa East Asia & Pacific Europe & CentralAsia

Latin America &Caribbean

Middle East &North Africa

South Asia

No Women Women

% asked for land as collateral

2. The Trade Dimension

Bank Account Overdraft

0%20%40%60%80%

100%

Perc

ent

Region

Domestic GVC

0%20%40%60%80%

100%

Perc

ent

Region

Domestic GVC

2. The Trade Dimension

0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

Africa East Asia & Pacific Europe & Central Asia Latin America &Caribbean

South Asia

Perc

ent

Domestic GVC

Value of collateral relative to loan

• Clear evidence that firms involved with the international economy experience fewer difficulties accessing finance than domestically-oriented firms.

• BUT causation is likely circular, as financially well connected firms self-select into trade.

• So what can trade policy do to help improve the situation?

• Best evidence on the causes of gendered access to finance suggests that trade policy has nothing to do with it.• Many countries do not prohibit gender or marriage-based discrimination in lending.• Many countries have discriminatory property regimes for married women.• Many countries discriminate between sons and daughters in terms of inheritance.

• No suggestion that discrimination against women creates an unfair commercial advantage (c.f. environment, labor); likely the opposite!

• Recent experience with “rules” on gender is woeful: Canada-Chile FTA does not contain even one new, legally enforceable obligation in the chapter on gender!

3. Policy Implications: What Role (if any) for Trade?

• Nonetheless, the traditional core business of trade negotiations can be highly relevant from a gender point of view:

• Opening to trade in goods sectors where women-owned and –run firms are active can potentially help loosen financial constraints (though query causal channel).

• Opening to trade can increase competition in financial services, which has been linked elsewhere to decreased discrimination (e.g., by race in the USA).

• Opening to trade as a priority in market segments (microfinance) and products (digital) of particular interest to women can help loosen financing constraints.

• So trade policy is certainly relevant to the gender-finance linkage, but more in a market access sense than in a rules sense.

• Little evidence that countries are willing to include inheritance regimes and discrimination laws in trade agreements.

• First priority is data disaggregated by gender to foster research that can inform policy & M&E.

3. Policy Implications: What Role (if any) for Trade?

www.ictsd.org

Thank you

Ben SHEPHERD, Principal, Developing Trade Consultants