Abena Oduro

Abena Oduro, a Ghanaian national, obtained her O levels and A levels at Aburi Girls Secondary School and Wesley Girls High School respectively, both located in Ghana. She went on to further her education in University of Glasgow in 1978 where she received an M.A.(Hons) First Class in Political Economy and Geography. She then stayed on in the University of Glasgow to obtain an M.Litt in Economics in 1982 and started her PhD program (1983–1987) which she did not complete. Oduro was awarded for her academic performance through The Royal Scottish Geographical Medal for Outstanding Performance (1982) and the University of Glasgow Scholarship (1983).

Abena Oduro is currently a Senior Economics Lecturer in the University of Ghana where she has been working since 1989 teaching macroeconomic theory, international economics and international trade theory in the undergraduate and post-graduate levels. In 1999, she was appointed as the Project Officer for the Centre for Policy Analysis (CEPA) till 2001 where she went on to be a Research Fellow in this same organization until 2006. While holding this position, she became a visiting lecturer for the Council on African Studies at Yale University in 2003.

Furthermore, aside being the Vice Dean of the Faculty Social Studies, Abena Oduro is also the Director of the Centre for Social Policy Studies in the University of Ghana{{Cite web|url=https://g2lm-lic.iza.org/investigators/abena-oduro/|title=Abena Oduro|website=g2lm-lic.iza.org|access-date=25 November 2019}} and the Co-Director for the Merian Institute for Advanced Studies in Africa (MIASA){{Cite web|url=https://zasb.unibas.ch/en/centre/events/details/news/abena-d-oduro-the-gender-gap-in-asset-ownership-in-ghana/|title=Details {{!}} Centre for African Studies|website=zasb.unibas.ch|access-date=25 November 2019}} which is an organization setup to create a platform for scholars within the Social Science field in Sub Saharan Africa to share and popularize their research.{{Cite web|url=https://www.frias.uni-freiburg.de/en/miasa|title=Maria Sibylla Merian Institute for Advanced Studies in Africa (MIASA) — Freiburg Institute for Advanced Studies – FRIAS|website=www.frias.uni-freiburg.de|access-date=25 November 2019}} She is also the associate editor of Feminist Economics and a co-editor for the Engendering Economic Policy in Africa issue (2015).{{Cite web|url=http://www.levyinstitute.org/conferences/accra2019/|title=Macroeconomic and Microeconomic Aspects of Policy Interventions to Reduce the Burden of Unpaid Activities|website=www.levyinstitute.org|access-date=25 November 2019}}

Oduro is part of the African Economic Research Consortium, American Economic Association and the International Association for Feminist Economics where she holds active membership roles in all of these groups respectively. Currently, she is the Head Research Investigator for the Swiss Programme for Research and Global Issues for Development.

Abena Frempongmaa Daagye Oduro's work cuts across a variety of topics namely trade policy, asset management and ownership, poverty and gender analysis, labour market in low income countries and inequality and vulnerability analysis. Aside these areas of specialization, some of her work is also centred around World Trade Organization (WTO) issues and the economics of education. Her work has been published on platforms such as World Development and African Development Review and SSRN.

Gender analysis and asset management and control are one of the recurring themes that are present in a lot of Abena Oduro's work. Using economic tools such as regression analysis, she explores the disparity in home ownership between men and women in Ghana. In doing so, she also delves into issues relating to rights such as the right to sell or freedom to use ones property through a [https://sk.sagepub.com/reference/law/n150.xml critical feminist] theory lens. Abena Oduro, in this paper, explores the effect certain aspects of Ghanaian culture has on the level of control a woman has in exercising her rights to sell or to use her home as collateral. She concludes by highlighting the need to explore this trend on a more microlevel; in terms of ethnic groups.{{Cite journal|last=Oduro|first=Abena D.|date=2015|title=Ownership of the Place of Residence in Ghana: A Gender Analysis|url=https://ideas.repec.org/a/afe/journl/v17y2015i1p17-44.html|journal=Journal of African Development|language=en|volume=17|issue=1|pages=17–44|doi=10.5325/jafrideve.17.1.0017 |s2cid=167821635 |doi-access=free|url-access=subscription}}

In this paper, Oduro and Abigail Barr explore the relationship between a worker's ethnic group and their earnings. They also investigate any forms of pay discrimination by virtue of relations between the worker and the employer, ethnic group and their work experience. This research is part of the World Bank's Policy Research under "The Economics of Ethnicity and Entrepreneurship in Africa." Their findings saw that there were pay differentials by ethnic group- the Northerners were typically earning less mainly because of the average level of education people from that part of Ghana have in a lifetime thereby reducing their earning power and employment mobility. Their paper also showed that relatives of employers were also paid more and there is a preference of inexperienced workers from the same ethnic group than other ethnic groups.{{Cite journal|last1=Barr|first1=Abigail|last2=Oduro|first2=Abena|date=1 December 2000|title=Ethnicity and Wage Determination in Ghana|language=en|location=Rochester, NY|ssrn=632576}}

This paper written by Carmen Diana Deere, Abena Oduro, Hema Swaminathan, Zachary Catanzarite and J.Y. Suchitra was published in the Feminist Economics journal and explores the gender disparity in asset ownership and accumulation. Funding and owning assets such as houses, land, real estates, businesses and agriculture have shown to be more difficult for women than it is for men in the case study countries which are Ecuador, Ghana and Karnataka, India. Abena Oduro provides her research findings within the Ghanaian context which share the same aforementioned trend and problems. The paper suggests that, in order to bridge this gap in capital and land accumulation, there is a need to promote financial inclusion which focuses on both savings and credits.{{Cite journal|last1=Doss|first1=Cheryl R.|last2=Deere|first2=Carmen Diana|last3=Oduro|first3=Abena D.|last4=Swaminathan|first4=Hema|last5=Catanzarite|first5=Zachary|last6=Suchitra|first6=J. Y.|date=3 April 2019|title=Gendered Paths to Asset Accumulation? Markets, Savings, and Credit in Developing Countries|journal=Feminist Economics|volume=25|issue=2|pages=36–66|doi=10.1080/13545701.2019.1566753|s2cid=159263410|issn=1354-5701|url=https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:0847a208-9fe7-4923-96d7-9e89a0b06952}}

Abena Oduro and Charles Ackah explore gender gaps in asset accumulation, education and employment through a historical sense. They propose that although there have been policy changes to address this issue, they have not been effective enough to cause a dramatic change especially in educational levels of women in Ghana. With respect to wages, there is a fairly large gender wage gap especially when taking into account domestic work of women. Oduro and Ackah propose the need to have stronger policies centred around changing values and certain cultural norms to address this problem and reduce this gender gap.{{Cite book|url=https://www.oxfordscholarship.com/view/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198753438.001.0001/acprof-9780198753438-chapter-19|title=Closing the Gender Gaps in Ghana|last1=Oduro|first1=Abena D.|last2=Ackah|first2=Charles G.|date=16 February 2017|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-181506-5|language=en-US|doi=10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198753438.001.0001}}

She has held talks at the International Association for Feminist Economics on:

• Teaching African women in the development context: Home ownership in Ghana
• The Primacy of Gender in Education: Gender analysis of delayed enrollment in Ghana: Universal primary education
• Gender in Post conflict and post-shock contexts: Intra-household analysis of shocks and coping strategies: Ghana and India context
• Savings and Control over resources: Women who save comparative analysis of Ecuador, Ghana and India
• International Trade and Migration: Gender, remittances and asset accumulation in Ecuador and Ghana{{Cite web|url=https://editorialexpress.com/conference/IAFFE23AC/program/IAFFE23AC.html#7|title=International Association for Feminist Economics|website=editorialexpress.com|access-date=25 November 2019}}

Abena Oduro has also held seminars at the Global Studies Programme (GSP) where she spoke on:

• "The Gender Gap in Asset Ownership in Ghana"{{Cite news|url=https://www.gsp.uni-freiburg.de/news/02-07-2019-18-30h-talk-the-gender-gap-in-asset-ownership-in-ghana-by-prof-abena-d-oduro-university-of-ghana|title=02.07.2019 // 18.30h // Talk: The Gender Gap in Asset Ownership in Ghana by Prof. Abena D. Oduro (University of Ghana) — Global Studies Programme|access-date=25 November 2019|language=de}}

Oduro presented at a World Bank conference on the topic:

• "The World Bank in Ghana" alongside E. Aryeetey (1996)
• "A Note on the Nature and Structure of Poverty" (1999)
• "The WTO and Agriculture: A Ghana Case Study" (2002)

{{overly detailed|section|date=August 2020}}

• {{cite book | last1 = Oduro | first1 = Abena D. | last2 = Akyeampong | first2 = Kwame | last3 = Djangmah | first3 = Jerome | last4 = Seidu | first4 = Alhassan | last5 = Hunt | first5 = Frances | title = Access to basic education in Ghana: the evidence and the issues: country analytic report | publisher = CREATE, Centre for International Education, University of Sussex | url = http://www.create-rpc.org/publications/cars/ | location = Brighton | year = 2007 | isbn = 9780901881120 }}
• {{cite book | last1 = Oduro | first1 = Abena D. | last2 = Baah-Boateng | first2 = William | last3 = Boakye-Yiadom | first3 = Louis | title = Measuring the gender asset gap in Ghana | publisher = Woeli Publishing Services, published for the Department of Economics, University of Ghana | location = Accra | url = https://www.researchgate.net/publication/290445474 | year = 2011 | isbn = 9789988851064 }}
• {{cite book | editor-last1 = Oduro | editor-first1 = Abena D. | editor-last2 = Agyei-Mensah | editor-first2 = Samuel | editor-last3 = Ayee | editor-first3 = Joseph R.A. | title = Changing perspectives on the social sciences in Ghana | publisher = Springer | location = Dordrecht | year = 2014 | isbn = 9789401787147 }}

• {{Cite book | last1 = Oduro | first1 = Abena D. | last2 = Tsikata | first2 = G.K. | last3 = Jebuni | first3 = Charles D. | last4 = Asante | first4 = Yaw | title = Diversifying exports: the supply response of non-traditional exports to Ghana's economic recovery programme | publisher = University of Ghana and the Overseas Development Institute (ODI) | url = https://www.odi.org/sites/odi.org.uk/files/odi-assets/publications-opinion-files/8025.pdf | location = London Legon | year = 1992 | isbn = 9780850031898 }}
• {{Cite book | last1 = Oduro | first1 = Abena D. | last2 = Baah-Nuakoh | first2 = Amoah | last3 = Jebuni | first3 = Charles D. | last4 = Asante | first4 = Yaw | title = Exporting manufactures from Ghana: is adjustment enough? | publisher = University of Ghana and the Overseas Development Institute (ODI) | url = https://www.odi.org/sites/odi.org.uk/files/odi-assets/publications-opinion-files/8031.pdf | location = Ghana London | year = 1996 | isbn = 9780850032413 }}
• {{Cite book | last1 = Oduro | first1 = Abena D. | last2 = Osei-Akoto | first2 = Isaac | last3 = Acquaye | first3 = I. | title = Poverty in a globalising economy: the role of rural institutions, Ghana | location = Japan | year = 2004}}

::Report Presented to Foundation for Advanced Studies on International Development (FASID) and the African Economic Research Consortium (AERC) as part of the Africa-Asia Research & Capacity Building Network for African Development Project, AERC Nairobi.

• {{Cite book | last1 = Oduro | first1 = Abena D. | title = Women in economic research graduate training in West Africa | publisher = African Economic Research Consortium (AERC) | url = https://www.ug.edu.gh/economics/researchs-publications/access-basic-education-ghana-evidence-and-issues-country-analytical-report | location = Nairobi | year = 2010 | isbn = 9789966778550 }} Special Paper No. 46
• {{Cite book | last1 = Oduro | first1 = Abena D. | last2 = Doss | first2 = Cheryl | last3 = Deere | first3 = Carmen Diana | last4 = Suchitra | first4 = J.Y. | last5 = Hillesland | first5 = Marya | title = Lessons from the field: implementing individual asset surveys in Ecuador, Ghana, India and Uganda | publisher = Indian Institute of Management Bangalore | url = https://dds.cepal.org/redesoc/publication?id=1941 | location = Bangalore | year = 2011}}

• {{Citation | last1 = Oduro | first1 = Abena D. | last2 = Aryeetey | first2 = Ernest | author-link2 = Ernest Aryeetey | contribution = Regional integration efforts in Africa: an overview | editor-last = Teunissen | editor-first = Jan Joost | title = Regionalism and the global economy: the case of Central and Eastern Europe | publisher = FONDAD | location = The Hague | year = 1997 | isbn = 9789074208116 | postscript = .}}
• {{Citation | last1 = Oduro | first1 = Abena D. | last2 = Jebuni | first2 = Charles D. | contribution = Structural adjustment programme and the transition to democracy | editor-last = Ninsin | editor-first1 = Kwame Akon | title = Ghana: transition to democracy| url = http://www.codesria.org/spip.php?article960 | publisher = Codesria | location = Dakar, Senegal | year = 1998 | isbn = 9782869780910 | postscript = .}}
• {{Citation | last1 = Oduro | first1 = Abena D. | last2 = Harrigan | first2 = Jane | contribution = Exchange rate policy and the balance of payments 1972–1996 | editor-last1 = Aryeetey | editor-first1 = Ernest | editor-last2 = Harrigan | editor-first2 = Jane | editor-last3 = Nissanke | editor-first3 = Machiko | editor-link1 = Ernest Aryeetey | title = Economic reforms in Ghana: the myth and the mirage | publisher = Africa World Press | location = Trenton, New Jersey | year = 2000 | isbn = 9780865438446 | postscript = .}}
• {{Citation | last1 = Oduro | first1 = Abena D. | contribution = Agriculture and the new trade agenda in the WTO 2000 negotiations: economic analyses of interests and options for Ghana | editor-last1 = Ingco | editor-first1 = Merlinda D. | editor-last2 = Nash | editor-first2 = John D. | editor-last3 = Njinkeu | editor-first3 = Dominique | title = Liberalizing agricultural trade: issues and options for Sub-Saharan Africa in the WTO | url = http://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/pt/451581488517887608/pdf/110213-PUB-Box396328B-PUBLIC-Liberalizing-Agricultural-Trade-2003.pdf | pages = 229–263 | publisher = Macmillan Nigeria | location = Lagos | year = 2003 | isbn = 9789780183530 | postscript = .}}
• {{Citation | last1 = Oduro | first1 = Abena D. | last2 = Appiah-Kubi | first2 = A. | last3 = Senadza | first3 = B. | contribution = Understanding poverty in Ghana: risk and vulnerability | editor-last1 = Kanbur | editor-first1 = Ravi | editor-last2 = Aryeetey | editor-first2 = Ernest | editor-link1 = Ravi Kanbur | editor-link2 = Ernest Aryeetey | title = The economy of Ghana: analytical perspectives on stability, growth & poverty | publisher = James Currey and Woeli Publishing Services | location = Oxford Accra, Ghana | year = 2008 | isbn = 9781847010032 | postscript = .}}
• Oduro, Abena D. (2009), "[https://books.google.com/books?id=4eYgAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA412 African Countries and the green box]", in {{cite book | editor-last = Melňdez-Ortiz | editor-first = Ricardo | editor-last2 = Bellmann | editor-first2 = Christophe | editor-last3 = Hepburn | editor-first3 = Jonathan | title = Agricultural subsidies in the WTO green box: ensuring coherence with sustainable development goals | date = 3 December 2009 | pages = 412–424 | publisher = Cambridge University Press | location = Cambridge, UK New York | isbn = 9780521519694 }}
• Oduro, Abena D.; Aryeetey, Ernest; Osei-Akoto, Isaac; Osei, Robert Darko (2010), "[https://books.google.com/books?id=BJx1J4PsNR4C&pg=PA151 An investigation into the gender dimensions of taxation in Ghana]", in {{cite book | editor-last = Grown | editor-first = Caren | editor-last2 = Valodia | editor-first2 = Imraan | title = Taxation and gender equity: a comparative analysis of direct and indirect taxes in developing and developed countries | date = January 2010 | pages = 151–178 | publisher = Routledge International Development Research Centre | location = London New York Ottawa | isbn = 9781552504697 }}
• {{Citation | last1 = Oduro | first1 = Abena D. | last2 = Boakye-Yiadom | first2 = Louis | last3 = Baah-Boateng | first3 = William | contribution = Asset ownership among rural and urban women in Ghana | editor-last = Twerefou | editor-first = Daniel Kwabena | editor-last2 = Quartey | editor-first2 = Peter | editor-last3 = Boakye-Yiadom | editor-first3 = Louis | editor-last4 = Baah-Boateng | editor-first4 = William | title = Readings on key economic issues in Ghana | pages = 76–97 | publisher = for the University of Ghana by Digibooks Ghana Ltd | location = Tema, Ghana | year = 2014 | isbn = 9789988191542 | postscript = .}}
• {{Citation | last1 = Oduro | first1 = Abena D. | last2 = Offei | first2 = Emmanuel Larbi | contribution = The incidence of intra-industry trade between Ghana and its Ecowas trading partners | editor-last = Twerefou | editor-first = Daniel Kwabena | editor-last2 = Quartey | editor-first2 = Peter | editor-last3 = Boakye-Yiadom | editor-first3 = Louis | editor-last4 = Baah-Boateng | editor-first4 = William | title = Readings on key economic issues in Ghana | pages = 236–255 | publisher = for the University of Ghana by Digibooks Ghana Ltd | location = Tema, Ghana | year = 2014 | isbn = 9789988191542 | postscript = .}}
• {{Citation | last1 = Oduro | first1 = Abena D. | last2 = Nabalamba | first2 = Alice | contribution = Gender | editor-last1 = Ncube | editor-first1 = Mthuli | editor-last2 = Lufumpa | editor-first2 = Leyeka | editor-link1 = Mthuli Ncube | title = The emerging middle class in Africa | pages = 149–169 | publisher = New York Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group | location = London | year = 2015 | isbn = 9781315757896 | postscript = .}}

• {{Cite journal | last1 = Oduro | first1 = Abena D. | last2 = Jebuni | first2 = Charles D. | last3 = Tutu | first3 = K.A. | title = Trade and payments regime and the balance of payments in Ghana | journal = World Development | volume = 22 | issue = 8 | pages = 1161–1173 | doi = 10.1016/0305-750X(94)90083-3 | date = August 1994 }}
• {{Cite journal | last1 = Oduro | first1 = Abena D. | last2 = Deere | first2 = Carmen Diana | last3 = Swaminathan | first3 = Hema | last4 = Doss | first4 = Cheryl | title = Property rights and the gender distribution of wealth in Ecuador, Ghana and India | journal = The Journal of Economic Inequality | volume = 11 | issue = 2 | pages = 249–265 | doi = 10.1007/s10888-013-9241-z | date = June 2013 | s2cid = 153897813 }}
• {{Cite journal | last1 = Oduro | first1 = Abena D. | last2 = Boakye-Yiadom | first2 = Louis | title = Gender, migrant remittances and asset acquisition in Ghana | journal = Ghana Social Science Journal | volume = 11 | issue = 1 | pages = 1–25 | url = http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh/handle/123456789/35109 | date = June 2014 }}
• {{Cite journal | last1 = Oduro | first1 = Abena D. | last2 = van Staveren | first2 = Irene | title = Engendering economic policy in Africa | journal = Feminist Economics | volume = 21 | issue = 3 | pages = 1–22 | doi = 10.1080/13545701.2015.1059467 | date = 2015 | hdl = 1765/79328 | s2cid = 153361566 | url = http://repub.eur.nl/pub/79328 | hdl-access = free }}
• {{Cite journal | last1 = Oduro | first1 = Abena D. | last2 = Seshie-Nasser | first2 = Hellen A. | title = Delayed primary school enrolment among boys and girls in Ghana | journal = International Journal of Educational Development | volume = 49 | pages = 107–114 | doi = 10.1016/j.ijedudev.2015.12.004 | date = July 2016 }}

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Category:1959 births

Category:Alumni of the University of Glasgow

Category:Ghanaian economists

Category:Ghanaian women economists

Category:Living people

Category:Academic staff of the University of Ghana

Category:Women's studies academics

Category:Alumni of Aburi Girls' Senior High School

Category:People educated at Wesley Girls' Senior High School