Presentation of the paper:

Gender Gaps in the Labor Market and Aggregate Productivity

Speaker

Marc Teigner

Universitat de Barcelona

Abstract

This paper examines the quantitative effects of gender gaps in entrepreneurship and labor force participation on aggregate income and productivity. We calibrate and simulate an occupational choice model with heterogeneous agents in entrepreneurial ability and show that gender gaps in entrepreneurship affect aggregate productivity negatively, while gender gaps in labor force participation reduce income per capita. If all women are excluded from entrepreneurship, average output per worker drops by almost 12% because the average talent of employers drops, while if all women are excluded from the labor force, on the other hand, income per capita falls by almost 40%. In the cross-country analysis, we find that gender gaps and their implied income losses are quite similar across income groups but differ importantly across geographical regions, with a total income loss of 27% in Middle East and North Africa and a 14% loss in Europe and Central Asia.