When Will Global Gender Gaps Close?

September 15, 2023

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Format: Chicago

Alejandro Badel, and Rishi Goyal. When Will Global Gender Gaps Close?, (USA: International Monetary Fund, 2023) accessed November 21, 2024

Disclaimer: IMF Working Papers describe research in progress by the author(s) and are published to elicit comments and to encourage debate. The views expressed in IMF Working Papers are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the views of the IMF, its Executive Board, or IMF management.

Summary

On the current pace of reforms, global gender gaps are estimated to close, using deterministic (linear or log-linear) trends, over the next three centuries. This means that many women will likely not be able to fully use their abilities and talents, to the detriment of societies, for a long time. Yet this paper shows that, absent a significant step up in policy efforts, gender gaps may in fact never close. Using Markov chains, a common approach in macroeconomics, this paper analyzes the dynamics of the cross-country distribution of the gender gap in labor force participation. This methodology does not impose strong restrictions on the data, allowing for episodes of progress as well as regress by countries on gender inequality. Based on the experience of the past three decades, the analysis predicts a further narrowing of gender gaps over time. But the long-run distribution of gender gaps in labor force participation features a substantial share of countries with persistently large gaps, implying that—absent a strengthened and systematic policy effort—some of the current misallocation of women’s talents and abilities could persist perpetually.

Subject: Gender, Gender inequality, Income, Labor, Labor force participation, National accounts, Women

Keywords: Commonwealth and Development Office, Convergence, Cross-Country, Distribution, Dynamics, Female, Gender Gap, Gender inequality, Gender LFP gap, Global, IMF Gender Data Hub, IMF working paper 23/189, Income, Labor Force Participation, Labor Supply, Long-run distribution of gender gaps, UK's Foreign, U-shaped transition., Women

Publication Details

Pages:

22
Volume:

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DOI:

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Issue:

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Series:

Working Paper No. 2023/189
Stock No:

WPIEA2023189
ISBN:

9798400249044
ISSN:

1018-5941

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