This paper investigates the implications of the unequal division of the domestic labor in men and women’s participation and effort incentives in competitive relations, in which the labor market is the main example. We found that moderate levels of affirmative action (i.e., bias in favor of women) incentivize men and women to exert more effort and women’s participation. However, it cannot guarantee full participation and equal effort among men and women without inducing economic inefficiency or even distorting the labor market. Given these limitations, we consider the effects of an alternative policy that supports the men’s involvement in the domestic tasks. The main conclusion is that if we want men and women to have the same opportunities in the labor market, we must solve the household problem first. While women hold a larger share of the domestic labor, they are in a weaker position to compete with men. We expect that our findings will guide researchers and decision-makers implementing effective policies that can allow men and women to have the same labor market opportunities.

中文翻译：

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竞争中的性别差异：性别平等和降低成本的政策

本文研究了家庭劳力不平等对男女参与竞争关系中的参与和努力激励的影响，其中劳动力市场是主要的例子。我们发现适度的平权行动（即偏向于女性）激励着男人和女人付出更多的努力和妇女的参与。但是，它不能保证男女之间的充分参与和同等努力，而不会导致经济效率低下甚至扭曲劳动力市场。考虑到这些局限性，我们考虑了支持男子参与家务劳动的替代政策的效果。主要结论是，如果我们希望男人和女人在劳动力市场上享有相同的机会，就必须首先解决家庭问题。妇女在家庭劳动中所占比例较大，但在与男子竞争方面处于较弱的地位。我们希望我们的发现将指导研究人员和决策者执行有效的政策，使男人和女人拥有相同的劳动力市场机会。