Gender Economics and the Meaning of Discrimination

Abstract

Advances in economics hold much promise for an improved understanding of complex issues concerning gender and gender inequalities. A more realistic economics of choice based on behavioral economics, evidence of social influences on economic outcomes, and a recognition of the role of cultural persistence in patterns of behavior have blurred our traditional separation of preferences and constraints. However, in the analysis of gender gaps, we have continued to focus on the discrimination versus preferences dichotomy that this work has rendered both conceptually and empirically irrelevant. As the domain of economics continues to broaden, our approach to discrimination needs to change.