NEWS AND INSIGHT
UNEQUAL PAY PERSISTS
FOSTERING PROSPERITY IN INDIA’S FORESTS COUNTRY: India SCHOOL: Indian School of Business
COUNTRY: Denmark SCHOOL: Copenhagen Business School
In India, the livelihoods of more than 200 million people rest on the collection and trade of forest produce. Although this number spans various industries, from pharmaceuticals and cosmetics to paper and food products, a new deal signed between the Indian School of Business (ISB) and the Government of Odisha’s Mission Shakti in December is focused firmly on those in direct contact with the forest. Its target, in particular, is to support female-led prosperity through the support and development of a sustainable forest economy in eastern India. With plans that include the formation of large-scale, women-led community enterprises and technological support to harness economies of scale, it is hoped that three million women can be reached and empowered over the next three years. The deal with India’s eastern state of Odisha forms part of a wider ‘Initiative on the Forest Economy’ at ISB that is led by the school’s Bharti Institute of Public Policy (BIPP) research centre. With the aim of transforming India’s forests from spaces seen as being home to poverty and deprivation to fulcrums of future economic growth, the BIPP initiative is currently running pilots in the states of Jharkhand and Himachal Pradesh as well as in Odisha. “The forest economy, anchored in secure tenure, and built on women-centric community-owned enterprises, is a triple-win model. It is a win for people, profits and the planet,” said Ashwini Chhatre, associate professor and executive director of ISB-BIPP. Chhatre added that the Odisha initiative would benefit forest‑dependent industries with secure and traceable sources of supply and ensure sustainable management of forest landscapes. With a focus on seasonal forest produce that includes bamboo and chironji seeds, ISB’s role in the Odisha government agreement will encompass providing business training for community resource persons (known as Van Sakhis ) and creating smartphone applications for forest boundary mapping as well as financial essentials such as online claim filing. TBD
A new study has found that men and women are still not paid the same for the same job in 15 economically developed countries and – what’s worse – there is still a long way to go. The study, published in Nature Human Behaviour , adjusted its findings for age, education and part-time work but still found that men made more than women. The results also showed the scale of the difference in pay received for the same job in the same workplace. Japan had the biggest difference between male and female pay, with a 26 per cent difference, followed by South Korea with a 19 per cent difference. European and North American countries also showed stark differences in the research. It found, for example, a 14 per cent difference in the US and Slovenia, a 13 per cent difference in Germany and a 12 per cent difference in Spain. “What is new about these findings is that the documentation is based on huge amounts of data which includes information about employers. Moreover, the study shows that in all countries – including Denmark – a large share of the gender pay gap occurs between men and women who work the same job at the same workplace,” said Lasse Folke Henriksen, associate professor at Copenhagen Business School and co-author of the study. To solve these issues, the study calls for policies that enable more women to reach leadership positions and that boost the number of women in traditionally male fields. It also suggested that the onus should be on individual workplaces to solve this issue. “When we see such a significant pay differential between men and women working the same jobs, it points to workplace pay practices as a significant societal problem,” added Henriksen. “Our study does not identify the specific mechanisms by which these pay inequalities arise, but we do know from previous studies that, for example, parenthood, informal workplace roles and employer gender biases play an important role in determining pay and allowances.” EB
Ambition | FEBRUARY 2023 | 9
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