TY - JOUR
T1 - What Drives Female Labour Force Participation? Comparable Micro-level Evidence from Eight Developing and Emerging Economies
AU - Klasen, Stephan
AU - Le, Tu Thi Ngoc
AU - Pieters, Janneke
AU - Santos Silva, Manuel
PY - 2021/3
Y1 - 2021/3
N2 - We investigate the micro-level determinants of labour force participation of urban married women in eight low- and middle-income economies: Bolivia, Brazil, India, Indonesia, Jordan, South Africa, Tanzania, and Vietnam. In order to understand what drives changes and differences in participation rates since the early 2000s, we build a unified empirical framework that allows for comparative analyses across time and space. We find that the returns to the characteristics of women and their families differ substantially across countries, and this explains most of the between-country differences in participation rates. Overall, the economic, social, and institutional constraints that shape women’s labour force participation remain largely country-specific. Nonetheless, rising education levels and declining fertility consistently increased participation rates, while rising household incomes contributed negatively in relatively poorer countries, suggesting that a substantial share of women work out of economic necessity.
AB - We investigate the micro-level determinants of labour force participation of urban married women in eight low- and middle-income economies: Bolivia, Brazil, India, Indonesia, Jordan, South Africa, Tanzania, and Vietnam. In order to understand what drives changes and differences in participation rates since the early 2000s, we build a unified empirical framework that allows for comparative analyses across time and space. We find that the returns to the characteristics of women and their families differ substantially across countries, and this explains most of the between-country differences in participation rates. Overall, the economic, social, and institutional constraints that shape women’s labour force participation remain largely country-specific. Nonetheless, rising education levels and declining fertility consistently increased participation rates, while rising household incomes contributed negatively in relatively poorer countries, suggesting that a substantial share of women work out of economic necessity.
UR - https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.12848447
U2 - 10.1080/00220388.2020.1790533
DO - 10.1080/00220388.2020.1790533
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85088267635
SN - 0022-0388
VL - 57
SP - 417
EP - 442
JO - Journal of Development Studies
JF - Journal of Development Studies
IS - 3
ER -