WorkingPaperNo.1054 Gender-ResponsivePublicFinancialManagement:TheIndianChronologyofGenderBudgeting by LekhaChakraborty LevyEconomicsInstitute,NIPFP,andGoverningBoardoftheInternationalInstituteofPublicFinance,Munich June2024 TheauthoracknowledgesthevaluablediscussionsonPFMwithSrinivasGurazadaandPhilippKrause.ThisistheadvancedversionofthelecturedeliveredattheUNWomentrainingprogramonGenderandMacroeconomicsatBangkok,May13–17,2024.IsincerelyacknowledgetheresearchsupportbyBalamuralyB,theformerinternofNIPFP. TheLevyEconomicsInstituteWorkingPaperCollectionpresentsresearchinprogressbyLevyInstitutescholarsandconferenceparticipants.Thepurposeoftheseriesistodisseminateideastoandelicitcommentsfromacademicsandprofessionals. LevyEconomicsInstituteofBardCollege,foundedin1986,isanonprofit,nonpartisan,independentlyfundedresearchorganizationdevotedtopublicservice.Throughscholarshipandeconomicresearch,itgeneratesviable,effectivepublicpolicyresponsestoimportanteconomicproblemsthatprofoundlyaffectthequalityoflifeintheUnitedStatesandabroad. LevyEconomicsInstitute P.O.Box5000 Annandale-on-Hudson,NY12504-5000http://www.levyinstitute.org Copyright©LevyEconomicsInstitute2024Allrightsreserved ISSN1547-366X ABSTRACT Genderbudgetingisapublicfinancialmanagement(PFM)tool,usedtoensureaccountabilitymechanisms.Theanalysisof“process”indicatorsofgender-responsivePFM(GRPFM)revealsthatIndiahasbeensuccessfulinintegratingagenderlenswithinthebudgetcycle,includinginthefinancialplanningandallocation,andineffectiveimplementation.However,alegallymandatedGRPFMwouldbecrucialforthesustainedimpactofgenderbudgetingongenderequalityoutcomes.TheempiricalanalysisofthelinkbetweenGRPFMandgenderequalityoutcomesshowedthatflexibilityoffinancesiscrucialforagovernmenttoimplementGRPFM.Theunconditionalfiscaltransfershaverelativelymoreimpactongenderequalityoutcomesthanconditionaltransfers.Theplausiblemechanismthroughwhichunconditionaltaxtransfersimpactgenderequalityoutcomesliesintheflexibilityofuseoftaxtransfersbythesubnationalgovernmentsinprioritizingtheirgender-relatedcommitments.Thisinferencehaspolicyimplicationsforthe16thFinanceCommission. KEYWORDS:PublicFinancialManagement,GenderBudgeting,FiscalInnovation,Accountability JELCODES:H3,H5,H8 INTRODUCTION Genderbudgetingisapublicfinancialmanagement(PFM)tooltotranslategendercommitmentsintobudgetarycommitments.ThePublicFinancialManagement(PFM)frameworksforgenderbudgetinghavebeendevelopedbyChakraborty(2022),identifyingthefiscalinnovationcomponentsofgenderbudgetingandtheWorldBank(2022)bythePEFASecretariat,andidentifyingthenineindicatorsofgender-responsivePFM(GRPFM).Chakraborty(2022)definedgenderbudgetingasafiscalinnovationandsuggestedagenderbudgetingframeworkwithfourcomponents:modelbuilding,institutionalmechanisms,capacitybuilding,andaccountabilitymechanisms.Innovationisdefinedasamethodoftransforminganewconceptintotangibleprocesses,resources,andinstitutionalmechanismsinwhichabenefitmeetsidentifiedproblems.Gender-responsiveBudgeting(GRB)isafiscalinnovationinthatittranslatesgendercommitmentsintofiscalcommitmentsbyapplyinga“genderlens”toidentifiedprocesses,resources,andinstitutionalmechanisms,anditarrivesatadesirablebenefitincidence.GRBasaninnovationhasfourspecificcomponents:knowledgeprocessesandnetworking,institutionalmechanisms,learningprocessesandbuildingcapacities,andpublicaccountabilityandbenefitincidence. Primafacie,thebudgetmayappeartobegenderneutral,butduetodifferencesinthesociallydeterminedsystemicrolesplayedbywomenandmen,budgetarypolicieshavedifferentialimpactsacrossgender.Asaconsequence,thesupposedgenderneutralityofbudgetarypoliciescanturntogenderblindnessaswomenandmenareatasymmetriclevelsofdevelopmentonthesocio-economicscale.Genderbudgetingisnot"womenbudgeting,”rather,itisananalysisofbudgetstoascertaintherelativebenefits(orlosses)derivedbyeachgenderfromaparticularfiscalprogramorproject. Genderbudgetingconstitutesoneamongmanymacroeconomicpolicytoolsusedtoaddressgenderequity;amongothertoolssuchasmonetarypolicy,tradepolicyandfinancialderegulationpolicy.Genderbudgetingisanalyzedwithintheoverallframeworkoffiscalpolicy,anddoesnotfocusexclusivelyonpublicexpenditureanalysis.Thesignificantelementsoffiscalpolicyviewedthroughagenderperspectivearebudgetaryallocations,actualexpenditureand taxation,fiscaldecentralizationandex-antegenderbudgeting,fiscaldevolution(intergovernmentalfiscaltransfers),andaideffectiveness.However,mostgenderbudgetingexperimentsworldwidehavebeenlargelyconfinedtoanexpenditure-sideanalysisofbudgets.Thepaperanalyzesthegender-responsivePFMprocesswithspecialreferencetoIndia,takingintoaccountthefinancialallocation,marksmanship,andgenderoutcomes.Thepaperisorganizedintofivesections.Section1explainsthePFMframeworkofgenderbudgeting. Section2explainstheglobalPFMexperiencesofgenderbudgeting.Section3tracksthe“process”indicatorsofgender-responsivePFM.Section4providesthelinkbetweengender-responsivePFMandthegenderoutcomes.Section5concludes. 1.THEPUBLICFINANCIALMANAGEMENT(PFM)FRAMEWORKSOFGENDERBUDGETING GRBisemergingasa