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    How Costly Are Labor Gender Gaps? Estimates by Age Group for the Balkans and Turkey


    Cuberes, David and Teignier, Marc (2015) How Costly Are Labor Gender Gaps? Estimates by Age Group for the Balkans and Turkey. Policy Research Working Paper (7319). pp. 1-19.

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    Abstract

    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.
    Item Type: Article
    Keywords: gender inequality; entrepreneurship talent; factor allocation; aggregate productivity; span of control; Balkans; Turkey;
    Academic Unit: Faculty of Social Sciences > Economics, Finance and Accounting
    Item ID: 19598
    Depositing User: David Cuberes
    Date Deposited: 19 Mar 2025 15:48
    Journal or Publication Title: Policy Research Working Paper
    Publisher: World Bank Group
    Refereed: Yes
    URI: https://mural.maynoothuniversity.ie/id/eprint/19598
    Use Licence: This item is available under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial Share Alike Licence (CC BY-NC-SA). Details of this licence are available here

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