Gender-based indicators in human development: Correcting for missing women

Abstract

Gender Development Index and Gender Empowerment Measure are two gender-based indicators provided by the United Nations Development Program. Population share of the genders enter the formulation of these indicators in such a way that it favours the better performing gender. This can lead to further additions to ‘missing women’. A correction is proposed to capture this anomaly. This alternative satisfies an axiom of Monotonicity with its two corollaries, that is, given attainments the measure maximizes at ideal sex ratio and vanishes when one of the genders becomes extinct. An empirical illustration by taking life expectancy data of countries is given.