Evaluating the impact of violence against women in the macroeconomic Input–Output framework

Abstract

Violence against women and girls (VAW&G) has progressively become an emergency issue in many European countries and a relevant topic of public discussion. In this paper, we attempt to insert this theme within a model for macroeconomic policy design and evaluation. Special attention is devoted to the assessment of distortions in the allocation of public expenditure generated by VAW&G, in terms of gains and losses in aggregate total output. We adopt a macroeconomic input–output approach by adding to the framework an industry that produces care services to victims of VAW&G. The resulting model is integrated with the public expenditure reallocations that emerge as a result of the progressive elimination of violence. It is, thus, a simulation tool for determining total output gains or losses that emerge from the reallocation of public expenditures as VAW&G fades.