The international research project aims to identify the socio-economic and institutional factors that condition asset ownership among women, and hence economic equality between men and women. The specific objectives of the study are to collect empirical information on: i) the gender distribution of asset ownership within households; ii) the importance of asset ownership to the empowerment of women and the wellbeing of households; iii) the factors that facilitate or hinder asset ownership by women; and iv) the relationship between marital and inheritance regimes and access, ownership, and control over assets by women. One of the major objectives of the comparative study is to recommend indicators to assess whether women’s property rights are honored in practice and whether these change over time in response to changes in public policy and legal reforms intending to favor the accumulation of assets by women. Asset ownership has usually been studied at the household level; this project measures asset ownership at the individual level. We believe this approach offers an innovative perspective into gender inequality.