Working paper · 2025
The Global Gender Distortions Index (GGDI)
The paper proposes a Global Gender Distortions Index that measures how much aggregate productivity is lost when women are kept out of good jobs. It separates hiring-side discrimination from the frictions that discourage women from entering the labor force, and finds that demand-side distortions account for most of the losses.
Pinelopi Goldberg, Charles Gottlieb, Somik Lall, Meet Mehta, Michael Peters, Aishwarya Lakshmi Ratan. NBER Working Paper 34142, 2025.
The policy line
Closing the gap in women's access to good jobs is chiefly a matter of tackling employer-side discrimination, not only raising labor force participation.
Summary
The paper proposes a Global Gender Distortions Index that measures how much aggregate productivity is lost when women are kept out of good jobs. It separates hiring-side discrimination from the frictions that discourage women from entering the labor force, and finds that demand-side distortions account for most of the losses.
The full text is available at the publisher.
