This paper uses variables from the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development's (OECD) Gender, Institutions, and Development (GID) database to construct the Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI) and its subindices Family code, Civil liberties, Physical integrity, Son preference, and Ownership rights. Instead of measuring gender inequality in outcomes, SIGI and its subindices measure long-lasting social institutions defined as societal practices and legal norms that frame gender roles. The SIGI combines them into a multidimensional index of women's deprivation caused by gendered social institutions. Inspired by the Foster-Greer-Thorbecke poverty measures, the SIGI offers a new way of aggregating gender inequality by penalizing high inequality in each dimension and allowing only partial compensation between indices. The indices identify countries and dimensions of gendered social institutions that deserve attention. Empirical results confirm that the SIGI complement other gender-related indices.

The Development Centre of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development's Gender, Institutions and Development Data Base (GID-DB) is a new cross-country research tool with comprehensive measures of gender equality. It improves upon existing sources because it is the only data base on gender that systematically incorporates indicators of social norms, traditions and family law. The GID-DB thereby permits analysis of hypotheses that link cultural practices to gender equality, human development and economic growth. A cross-country comparison of the data indicates that inequalities in social institutions are particularly pronounced in countries with low female literacy rates, but correlate less strongly with Gross Domestic Product per capita. Similarly, our econometric analysis suggests a clearly negative correlation between gender inequality of the OECD Development Center and women's labor-force participation.*The views expressed in this article are the personal opinions of the authors

This article discusses the role of private health insurance (PHI) in developing countries. Three broad regional clusters are identified that share similar characteristics and policy challenges for the effective integration of private insurance into national health care systems: (1) Latin America and Eastern Europe, where there are already developed insurance industries facing important market and policy failures; (2) the Middle East/North Africa region and East Asia, where there is a projected strong growth of PHI that needs to be accompanied by efficient regulation; and finally, (3) South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa, where PHI will only play a marginal role in the foreseeable future while the scaling up of small-scale, nonprofit insurance schemes appears to be of critical importance. Overall, this survey shows that the role of private insurance varies depending on the economic, social, and institutional settings in a country or region. Private health insurance schemes can be valuable tools to complement existing health-financing options only if they are carefully managed and adapted to local needs and preferences.

Migration can strengthen the development process in sending countries. Potential gains from migration are currently insufficiently utilised. More coherence between various policy domains – in particular related to migration, human resource development and the labour market – is a critical component of an improved migration management.

Informal employment is a widespread phenomenon in Romania and a key challenge for the country’s development. Policies should target two distinct groups: those who voluntarily opt out of the formal system and those with no alternative. Transforming people’s attitudes towards the state and strengthening their trust in public institutions is key.