indeed progress has slowed in a number of areas and the remaining gender gaps are often very large in emerging economies further improvements are not inevitable but will depend on effective policy action the recovery from the global economic crisis has been weak in large portions of the developed world and clear signs of a slowdown are evident in many emerging economies in this context increasing female labour market outcomes represents a very important untapped resource with the potential to boost productivity and revive economic growth ferrant and kolev hsieh et al