The restoring force characteristics of steel frames can be decomposed into the skeleton part, the Bauschinger part and the elastically unloaded part. Hitherto, in most cases, the Bauschinger part has been disregarded in evaluating the seismic resistance of steel structures, and the contribution of the Bauschinger effect to the seismic resistance has been left unknown. In this paper, the shape of the Bauschinger part in the restoring force characteristics of steel moment frames is made clear experimentally, and the influence of the Bauschinger effect on the seismic resistance of steel moment frames is clarified through dynamic response analyses allowing for the Bauschinger effect. It is demonstrated that the influence of the Bauschinger effect is remarkable and the energy absorption capacity of steel moment frames can be doubled by the Bauschinger effect.