LAUSR

ABSTRACT Violence against women (VAW) is now acknowledged as a global problem with substantial economic costs. However, the current estimates of costs in the literature provide the aggregate loss of income, but not the macroeconomic loss in terms of output and demand insofar as they fail to consider the structural interlinkages of the economy. Focusing on Vietnam, this study proposes an approach based on the social accounting matrix (SAM) to estimate the macroeconomic loss due to violence. Using Vietnam’s 2011 SAM, the study estimates the income and multiplier loss due to VAW. From a policy point of view, the study argues that the macroeconomic loss due to VAW renders a permanent invisible leakage to the circular flow that can potentially destabilize, weaken, or neutralize the positive gains from government expenditure on welfare programs.