How Costly are Labor Gender Gaps? : Estimates for the Balkans and Turkey
In this paper, survey data are used to document the presence of gender gaps in self-employment, employership, and labor force participation in seven Balkan countries and Turkey. The paper examines the quantitative effects of the gender gaps on aggr...
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| Language: | English English |
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World Bank, Washington, DC
2015
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| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2015/06/24679234/costly-labor-gender-gaps-estimates-balkans-turkey http://hdl.handle.net/10986/22195 |
| Summary: | In this paper, survey data are used to
document the presence of gender gaps in self-employment,
employership, and labor force participation in seven Balkan
countries and Turkey. The paper examines the quantitative
effects of the gender gaps on aggregate productivity and
income per capita in these countries. In the model used to
carry out this calculation, agents choose between being
workers, self-employed, or employers, and women face several
restrictions in the labor market. The data display very
large gaps in labor force participation and in the
percentage of employers and self-employed in the labor
force. In almost all cases, these gaps reveal a clear
underrepresentation of women. The calculations show that, on
average, the loss associated with these gaps is about 17
percent of income per capita. One-third of this loss is due
to distortions in the choice of occupations between men and
women. The remaining two-thirds corresponds to the costs
associated with gaps in labor force participation. The
dimensions of these gender gaps and their associated costs
vary considerably across age groups, with the age bracket
36–50 years being responsible for most of the losses. |
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