Gender Wage Discrimination, Effects on Monetary Policy and the Business Cycle

The purpose of this research is to demonstrate the benefits of monetary policy based on wage equality in the labor market. The investigation considers the unpaid work that women assume, within the household. The results demonstrate wage discrimination between men and women is related to differential labor costs. Unemployment women take on unpaid work at home due to a decrease in their bargaining power compared to men in taking on household chores. Simulations show that an expansionary monetary policy is less effective the larger the wage gap between men and women is. With a wage gap of 17pp, Bolivia loses 0.16pp of GDP growth as a consequence of positive monetary policy shocks