Liberian Women Count : Evidence from a Macrosimulation of the Gender Dividend

Liberian women make significant economic contributions yet are constrained from contributingeven more due to their exclusion from productive opportunities. This study develops a macrosimulation modelof the Gender Dividend that estimates the economic contributions of women and the societal costs incurred byexcluding them. Using macroeconomic, demographic, and survey data from Liberia, the analysis finds that women wereresponsible for 39 percent of market-based output produced annually in 2020, equal to US$1.08 billion, and contributedanother US$530 million in non-tradable sources of production, namely, housework and domestic chores. Using themacrosimulation model, the study estimates that if the gender gaps in labor force participation, intra-sectoralwages, and sector of employment were closed, gross domestic product would be 11.5 percent higher. If further reformswere undertaken to equalize education and reduce fertility rates to a net-reproduction rate, gross domestic productwould be 23.7 percent higher. Finally, if the model also accounts for the value of non-tradable production, grossdomestic product would be US$5.89 billion, or 45.3 percent higher than today’s estimates, with women being responsiblefor 53 percent of the labor market output. These estimates reinforce the need for a unified policy agenda that activelyinvests in women’s human capital and work-related opportunities simultaneously.