Research Paper on More Gender Inclusive Competition, Consumer Protection, Product Safety, Privacy and Other Policy, Legal and Regulatory Regimes

Abstract

Competition agencies and many other related policy and regulatory authorities and regimes on for example consumer protection, product safety, privacy, conventional and digital financial services, the environment, healthcare, and occupational health and safety are now paying much greater attention to gender issues, inclusion, discrimination, and gender-based analysis when designing, administering and enforcing their policies, laws, regulation and rules.

The purpose of this research paper is to review, expand on, and bring together in a single document the major insights, guidance and lessons from: (i) the growing and very rich academic and policy literature on gender, regulation and the law; and (ii) the author’s own experience with gender-based analysis over a two decade plus period, including from the recently completed consulting project on “Strengthening Consumer Protection in ASEAN.” This consulting project was conducted by the Canadian consulting firm GT Asia for the ASEAN Secretariat, ASEAN’s Committee on Consumer Protection (ACCP), the Canadian Trade and Investment Facility, and Global Affairs Canada. The paper as well attempts to extend and expand on the the excellent work now being conducted by the OECD, with support from the Canadian Competition Bureau, on making competition policy, law and agencies more gender inclusive.
Some of the major lessons, themes and takeaways from these and other sources include:
1) The importance and imperative of collecting and managing sex-aggregated data as a key foundation for understanding how opportunities, outcomes, benefits, costs, risks, impacts, challenges, and responses can vary greatly between males and females.
2) How and why gender inclusion and women’s issues are strongly associated with and exacerbate other indicators of consumer and related vulnerability and disadvantage associated with for example age, ethnicity, education, socioeconomic status, and location (e.g. rural versus urban).

3) How gender bias, discrimination and prejudice that can hinder and harm women in one context such as the workplace can carry over into other market and social contexts when women are consumers, students, investors, business operators and so on -- making gender discrimination and inequality and achieving the sustainable development goal (SDG) on gender equality a very complex and difficult to remedy “wicked” problem.
4) And how and why increasing the number of women on boards of directors and in senior executive positions in larger corporations and other firms and organizations, including entrepreneurial start-ups and state and non-state regulators, can contribute significantly and in a measurable manner to regulatory compliance and performance and in particular to business compliance with laws, regulations and social norms and values.

These and other themes and insights illustrate the imperative for more holistic, nuanced, behaviorally informed, multi-disciplinary, and multiple context approaches when governments and their policy makers, agencies, regulated entity populations, and other stakeholders are addressing gender issues, inclusion and discrimination and conducting gender-based analysis.

Keywords: gender, competition policy, consumer protection, product safety, regulatory compliance

JEL Classification: D11, D21,D62,D73, J16, M14