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The Gender Gap

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  • Graciela Chichilnisky

Abstract

The author explains the “gender gap” as a Nash equilibrium of a game with incomplete information about women's work at home and in the marketplace. Expectations about women's lower wages leads to the overutilization of women in the household, and this, in turn, leads to lower productivity and lower wages for women in the marketplace. The situation is rational but generally Pareto inferior. With logistic learning by doing, at high levels of skill there is a Pareto‐superior equilibrium, where men and women share efforts equally at home and receive the same pay in the marketplace, firms enhance their profits, and there is more welfare at home. Inequity at home breeds inequity in the marketplace and, reciprocally, inequity in the marketplace leads to inequity at home, causing a persistent gender gap. Appropriate contracts may be needed to implement the superior solution, since generally governments do not intervene in family matters.

Suggested Citation

  • Graciela Chichilnisky, 2008. "The Gender Gap," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 12(4), pages 828-844, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:rdevec:v:12:y:2008:i:4:p:828-844
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-9361.2008.00456.x
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Eva M. Meyersson Milgrom & Trond Petersen & Vemund Snartland, 2001. "Equal Pay for Equal Work? Evidence from Sweden and a Comparison with Norway and the U.S," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 103(4), pages 559-583, December.
    2. Francine D. Blau & Lawrence M. Kahn, 2006. "The U.S. Gender Pay Gap in the 1990S: Slowing Convergence," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 60(1), pages 45-66, October.
    3. Datta Gupta, Nabanita & Oaxaca, Ronald L. & Smith, Nina, 2003. "Swimming Upstream, Floating Downstream: Comparing Women's Relative Wage Positions in the U.S. and Denmark," IZA Discussion Papers 756, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    4. Aronsson, Thomas & Daunfeldt, Sven-Olov & Wikström, Magnus, 2001. "Intra-household Tax Avoidance: An Application to Swedish Household Data," Umeå Economic Studies 572, Umeå University, Department of Economics.
    5. Meyersson Milgrom, Eva M & Petersen, Trond & Snartland, Vemund, 2001. " Equal Pay for Equal Work? Evidence from Sweden and a Comparison with Norway and the U.S," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 103(4), pages 559-583, December.
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    Cited by:

    1. Magali Recoules, 2011. "How can gender discrimination explain fertility behaviors and family-friendly policies?," Université Paris1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (Post-Print and Working Papers) halshs-00675601, HAL.
    2. Pierre-André Chiappori & Murat Iyigun & Yoram Weiss, 2009. "Investment in Schooling and the Marriage Market," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 99(5), pages 1689-1713, December.
    3. Maria Stanfors & Frances Goldscheider, 2017. "The forest and the trees: Industrialization, demographic change, and the ongoing gender revolution in Sweden and the United States, 1870-2010," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 36(6), pages 173-226.
    4. Magali Recoules, 2011. "How can gender discrimination explain fertility behaviors and family-friendly policies?," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 9(4), pages 505-521, December.
    5. Muriithi, Beatrice, 2015. "Smallholder Horticultural Commercialization: Gender Roels and Implications for Household Well-being in Kenya," 2015 Conference, August 9-14, 2015, Milan, Italy 212516, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    6. Pierre-Richard Agénor & Baris Alpaslan, 2013. "Child Labor, Intra-Household Bargaining and Economic Growth," Centre for Growth and Business Cycle Research Discussion Paper Series 181, Economics, The University of Manchester.
    7. Agénor, Pierre-Richard & Canuto, Otaviano, 2015. "Gender equality and economic growth in Brazil: A long-run analysis," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 155-172.
    8. Magali Recoules, 2011. "How can gender discrimination explain fertility behaviors and family-friendly policies?," Post-Print halshs-00675601, HAL.
    9. Patrick Bollé, 2009. "Labour statistics: The boundaries and diversity of work," International Labour Review, International Labour Organization, vol. 148(1-2), pages 183-193, June.
    10. Trude Lappegård & Frances Goldscheider & Eva Bernhardt, 2017. "Introduction to the Special Collection on Finding Work-Life Balance: History, Determinants, and Consequences of New Bread-Winning Models in the Industrialized World," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 37(26), pages 853-866.
    11. Magali Recoules, 2011. "How can gender discrimination explain fertility behaviors and family-friendly policies?," PSE-Ecole d'économie de Paris (Postprint) halshs-00675601, HAL.

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