Female Labour Force Participation in African Countries: An Empirical Analysis

2019 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 278-293 ◽  
Author(s):  
Omowumi O. Idowu ◽  
Taiwo Owoeye
Keyword(s):  
Growth Rate ◽  
Labour Force ◽  
Labour Force Participation ◽  
Seemingly Unrelated Regression ◽  
Gdp Per Capita ◽  
Female Labour Force Participation ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Female Labour ◽  
Labour Participation ◽  
Per Capita

This article investigates female labour force participation (FLFP) in a panel comprising 20 selected African countries across five sub-regional groupings, over the period 1990–2018. It analyses the determinants of demand and supply of FLFP, thereby contributing to the ongoing debate on the female labour participation in African countries. The study sources data from the World Bank Data Bank and uses seemingly unrelated regression as an estimation technique after confirming the stationarity of the time series properties of all variables and the static analysis of the models. The analysis suggests that the GDP growth rate and inequality are positive determinants of female labour demand, while wages, GDP per capita growth and poverty are negative determinants. It also shows evidence for an inverted U-shaped relationship between female labour supply and economic development in Africa, while education, fertility, GDP per capita growth, manufacturing growth rate and culture were contributing factors to this relationship. It is therefore suggested that policymakers in Africa should accelerate the process of formalising African economies to encourage an increase in female labour participation.

scholarly journals Fertility and socio-economic determinants: evidence from co-integration and multivariate Granger casualty tests

2016 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 134
Author(s):  
Prakash Kengnal ◽  
Asha Bullappa
Keyword(s):  
Labour Force ◽  
National Income ◽  
Participation Rate ◽  
Labour Force Participation ◽  
Fertility Rate ◽  
Gross National Income ◽  
Female Labour Force Participation ◽  
Labour Force Participation Rate ◽  
Female Labour ◽  
Per Capita

Background: The empirical work on fertility determinants widely discusses the role of socio-economic factors like female labour force participation rate, urban population and per capita gross national income in determining fertility rates. The India’s high fertility rate began to decline gradually after late 1950s and continued to fall since then. India achieved almost 31 per cent decline in fertility rate from 1990 to 2012. The objective was to examine the relationship between fertility rate, urbanization, female labour force participation rate and per capita gross national income for India.Methods: This study covers the sample period from 1990-2012. Moreover, the direction of causality between fertility rate, urbanization, female labour force participation rate and per capita gross national income in India using Granger Causality test within the Vector Error-Correction Model (VECM) are examined.Results: As a summary of the empirical results, we found that fertility rate, urbanization, female labour force participation rate and per capita gross national income in India are co-integrated and there is unidirectional Granger Causality between the four variables in long and short-run.Conclusions: The growth in urban population, female labour force participation rate and per capita gross national income are responsible for the decrease in fertility rate in India.

scholarly journals The Nexus of Economic Growth, Education, Fertility Rate and Female Labour Supply: Empirical Evidence in Malaysia

2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 22-41
Author(s):  
Han Hwa Goh ◽  
Vishalini Macharagai ◽  
Siew Bee Thai ◽  
Boon Heng Teh ◽  
Tze San Ong
Keyword(s):  
Economic Growth ◽  
Strong Evidence ◽  
Labour Force ◽  
Participation Rate ◽  
Labour Force Participation ◽  
Fertility Rate ◽  
Female Labour Force Participation ◽  
Female Labour ◽  
Long Run ◽  
Labour Participation

Malaysia, a fast-growing developing country in Asia, has envisioned Shared Prosperity Vision 2030 to become a developed economy with high income via sustainable and inclusive economic growth by the year 2030. To accomplish this vision, female labour participation is needed as the female population constitutes almost half of Malaysia’s total population. However, female labour participation rate is way lower than Malaysia’s overall labour force participation rate.The relatively low female labour participation rate can be a barrier to Malaysia’s economic development and thus the realization of its goal of a high income nation.Therefore, this paper makes an attempt to examine empirically the long-run causal association among female labour force participation, economic growth, education, and fertility rate. The interrelationships among the variables are examined using the bounds test and Toda-Yamamoto granger non-causality methodology. The result of the study indicates a strong evidence of long-run relationship among the variables. Besides, we have found a significant inverted-U-shaped association linking the female labour force participation to the economic growth in Malaysia. The results of Granger causality tests further confirm that there is a strong evidence of bidirectional causality from education to economic growth as well as female labour participation. Besides, the results also show significant unidirectional causality from female labour force participation and fertility to economic growth.

scholarly journals Financial Inclusion and Labour Market Participation of Women in Selected Countries in Africa

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 15-31
Author(s):  
Folorunsho M. Ajide
Keyword(s):  
Fixed Effects ◽  
Labour Force ◽  
Labour Force Participation ◽  
Financial Inclusion ◽  
Least Square ◽  
Female Labour Force Participation ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Female Labour ◽  
Economic Participation ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Research purpose: This study investigates the impact of financial inclusion on female labour force participation in Africa. It also complements the existing studies by evaluating how advancement in information and communication technology (ICT) and Trade openness (TO) modulate the relationship between financial inclusion and female economic participation in selected African countries. Design/methodology/approach: The study focuses on twelve African countries while the empirical evidence is based on Fixed Effects, Random Effects and Generalised Least Square estimators (GLS). Data over the period of 2005-2016 are sourced from the World Bank Development database and IMF international Financial Statistics. Findings: The results show that financial inclusion has a non-monotonic relationship with female labour force participation. The study establishes that if the level of financial inclusion can be increased to the range of 33-57 per cent, it would improve the level of women participation in economic activities. The results further show that ICT moderates the nexus between financial inclusion and female economic participation at a threshold level of 38.17 per cent. These findings persist when the TO is used as the moderating factor at a threshold value of 80.90 per cent. The results are robust enough to suggest an alternative proxy for female labour force participation and alternative estimation techniques. Originality/value/practical implications: Ending gender inequality has become one of the priorities in the global development policies in which most African nations domesticate the same for their national planning. There are voices at every corner in Africa demanding the possibility of achieving gender equality in employment, among others. This article is one of the few articles that evaluate whether financial inclusion can be used to accelerate female economic participation in Africa.

scholarly journals Labour Force Participation Rate and it Implications on Food Security, Fertility Rate and Economic Growth in West African Monetary Zone (WAMZ) Countries

2020 ◽  
Vol 64 (4) ◽  
pp. 444-458
Author(s):  
Aduralere Oyelade ◽  
◽  
Onome Oghenetega ◽  
Favour Eforuoku ◽  
◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Economic Growth ◽  
Food Security ◽  
Labour Force ◽  
Labour Force Participation ◽  
Fertility Rate ◽  
Female Labour Force Participation ◽  
Labour Force Participation Rate ◽  
Female Labour ◽  
Per Capita ◽  
Male Labour

The study investigated the impact of labour force participation rate and its implications on food security, fertility rate and economic growth in the West African Monetary Zone (WAMZ). Using data from 6 countries over the period of 1990 tо 2016 and pool autoregressive dіstrіbutеd lаg (PАRDL) bоunds tеstіng рrосеdurе was employed. The result from the study showed that female labour force participation and health expenditure per capita determine food security and male labour force participation, female labour force participation, gross capita formation, health education per capita and enrolment in secondary education are the variables that determine fertility rate, while male labour force participation, female labour force participation, health expenditure per capita and enrolment in secondary education affect GDP per capita. The study recommended that policies should be directed toward increasing female labour force participation which will compliment male labour force participation as well as increase decent and productive work opportunities for female workers which will promote GDP per capita, leading to reduction in fertility rate and promote food security among member countries. Furthermore, family-friendly policies will further encourage females to participate in the labour market. Therefore, more efforts should be made to promote female labour force participation as the entire WAMZ countries will benefit from the growth and welfare improvement that it will generate. WAMZ countries governments need build their capacity through investment in health and education in order to enhance productivity of the labour force which will lead to economic growth, reduction in fertility rate as well as promote food security. This study has contributed empirically and theoretically to the body of knowledge. The scope covered also makes the study uniquely robust and different from previous ones.

scholarly journals Projection of the Output Cost Arising from Low Labour Force Participation of Women in North Cyprus

2017 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 17-30
Author(s):  
Demet Beton-Kalmaz
Keyword(s):  
Labour Force ◽  
Labour Force Participation ◽  
Female Labour Force Participation ◽  
Participation Rates ◽  
The South ◽  
Female Labour ◽  
Per Capita Gdp ◽  
North Cyprus ◽  
Catch Up ◽  
Per Capita

The relationship between gender inequality and economic growth has become one of the most interesting and debated issues both in the academic literature and the policy arena. The aim of this study is to investigate how gender inequalities in the labour force participation (LFP) in North Cyprus undermine the per capita output of the country. Thus, the study is designed to estimate the simulation of a possible increase in per capita GDP based on 2011 data generated by the catch up of north female labour force participation rates to the south for the year 2011. Different age categories for female labour force are considered for the measurement. The age categories distributed within the working age population including female labour force population between the ages 15 and over. The age categories are divided into 5 groups as including the female participants between the age from 15 to 24, 25 to 34, 35 to 44, 45 to 54, and 55 and over. Data used is obtained from the State Planning Organization (SPO) of North Cyprus government for North Cyprus and from the World Bank database for South Cyprus. The North Cyprus labour force participation rates are adjusted to the south as suggested by Bryant et. al. (2004). Parallel to the previous literature, it is found that female labour force participation (FLFP) rate has a positive impact on GDP in North Cyprus. There would have been a 4% higher per capita GDP with the catch up of north to south FLFP rate which might be a substantial contribution towards decreasing the income gap between north and south.

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