Female Labour Force Participation and Economic Development in African Least Developed Countries

2021 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 45-56
Author(s):  
Butoyi Ida Ornella ◽  
Utai Uprasen
Author(s):  
Masreka Khan

Immigrant women's labour market participation remains a long standing concern in the context of developed countries. Bangladeshi women are persistently reported to be one of the lowest participant groups in formal labour market in the UK. Where there is plethora of research to point out this fact, hardly any persuasive explanation is offered to unfold the phenomenon. The intrinsic bond between the rhetoric of citizenship and identities as immigrant is blurred in the surge of literatures. In this milieu, present chapter contributes to develop the understanding of the complex notion of citizenship and its implication in labour market participation, broadly on immigrant women and narrowly on Bangladeshi immigrant women. It reveals how ‘identity shaped by citizenship discourse' influences one of the important indicators of economic empowerment - market participation.


Author(s):  
Masreka Khan

Immigrant women's labour market participation remains a long standing concern in the context of developed countries. Bangladeshi women are persistently reported to be one of the lowest participant groups in formal labour market in the UK. Where there is plethora of research to point out this fact, hardly any persuasive explanation is offered to unfold the phenomenon. The intrinsic bond between the rhetoric of citizenship and identities as immigrant is blurred in the surge of literatures. In this milieu, present chapter contributes to develop the understanding of the complex notion of citizenship and its implication in labour market participation, broadly on immigrant women and narrowly on Bangladeshi immigrant women. It reveals how ‘identity shaped by citizenship discourse' influences one of the important indicators of economic empowerment - market participation.


1993 ◽  
Vol 32 (4II) ◽  
pp. 887-893 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shahnaz Kazi ◽  
Zeba A. Sathar

Female employment is considered an important means of lowering fertility through ways such as raising the age at marriage, through influencing desired family size and also through better knowledge and use of contraceptives. Increasing female labour force participation is frequently recommended as a critical policy measure for reducing the birth rate. However the significant inverse relationship between employment and fertility found for developed countries is weak or absent in the case of developing countries [Rodriguez and Cleland (1980)]. More recent evidence indicates that it is not so much employment per se but type of employment which is a critical determinant of reproductive behaviour [United Nations (1985)]. It has been shown that while high status professional jobs are associated with greater influence on women's domestic autonomy and fertility, low paying jobs lead to an increasing burden of work with entirely different implications for fertility and other household related behaviour. In the context of Pakistan, despite two decades of industrial growth and development, official data sources show stagnant and low levels of female labour force participation rates (LFPR) in urban Pakistan. The LFPR for urban women ranged between 3 and 5 percent for the period between 1971 and 1988. Data collection methods of government agencies are known to greatly underestimate female labour force participation (FLFP) particularly in rural areas and in the urban informal sector where the distinction between productive and domestic activities tends to be ambivalent. Evidence from micro surveys indicates, on the contrary, an increasing influx of women in the urban labour market, particularly in the informal sector [Sathar and Kazi (1988); Shaheed and Mumtaz (1981); Bilquees and Hamid (1989)]. A large number are shown to be working in home-based piece-rate employment while domestic service mainly as sweepers, washerwomen, maids, etc.................................


2012 ◽  
Vol 51 (4II) ◽  
pp. 565-586 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nooreen Mujahid ◽  
Naeem Uz Zafar Naeem Uz Zafar

Economic literature shows significant attention towards the role played by female labour force in the economic development of nations. The structural changes of economies from agriculture to industrial and services sector reduce the female labour force participation in case of developing nations. The activities of female labour force increases in the later stage of economic development due to increase in education and dynamics of economic activity. As the size of the economy expands females have easier and better access of jobs thus are encouraged to become economically active, it leads to increase female participation in the productive activities. The participation of female labour force is desirable for both equity and efficiency reasons. The equity aspect shows that the women’s participation in the labour market ultimately improves their relative economic position, increase the overall economic efficiency by enhancing the development potential of the country. Moreover, the increasing integration of women in the economy helps in reducing gender disparities in education, improving maternal health, increasing sectoral share of female employment in different sectors of the economy, demonstrating the hidden contribution of women as unpaid family worker especially in agriculture sector. According to the modernisation theorists, economic development is positively associated with female labour force participation through change in the occupational structure and increase in educational opportunities along with the household responsibilities. The modernisation process is linked with increased demand for labour, a general social acceptance of women’s education and employment as well as lower fertility [Heckman (1980); Standing (1981); Bauer and Shin (1987)]. A body of theoretical and empirical literature provides evidence that female labour force participation has a positive and strong relationship with economic growth [Tansel (2002) and Fatima and Sultana (2009)].


2018 ◽  
Vol 39 (7) ◽  
pp. 896-912 ◽  
Author(s):  
Misbah Tanveer Choudhry ◽  
Paul Elhorst

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to present a theoretical model, which is aggregated across individuals to analyse the labour force participation rate, and empirical results to provide evidence of a U-shaped relationship between women’s labour force participation and economic development. Design/methodology/approach The U-shaped relationship is investigated by employing a panel data approach of 40 countries around the world over the period 1960–2005. It is investigated whether the labour force behaviour of women in different age groups can be lumped together by considering ten different age groups. Findings The paper finds evidence in favour of the U-shaped relationship. For every age group and explanatory variable in the model, a particular point is found where the regime of falling participation rates changes into a regime of rising participation rates. Research limitations/implications To evaluate this relationship, microeconomic analysis with primary data can also provide significant insights. Social implications Every country can narrow the gap between the labour participation rates of men and women in the long term. Fertility decline, shifts of employment to services, part-time work, increased opportunities in education, and the capital-to-labour ratio as a measure for economic development are the key determinants. Originality/value In addition to the U-shaped relationship, considerable research has been carried out on demographic transition. This paper brings these two strands of literature together, by econometrically investigating the impact of demographic transition on female labour force participation given its U-shaped relation with economic development, i.e., turning points for different explanatory variables are calculated and their implications for economic growth are discussed.


2018 ◽  
Vol 4 (02) ◽  
Author(s):  
Megha Jain ◽  
Aishwarya Nagpal

Women’s employment is an imperative factor in their advancement towards economic independence yet there is relatively inadequate and mixed evidence on the relationship between economic growth and female labour force participation rates. This study examines the impact of economic growth on female workforce participation in South Asian Nations (SANs) from 2000-2015 within the outline of U-shaped hypothesis using panel data modelling. The impact of several key macro-economic variables on female labour force participation is also examined in different econometric model specifications. The effects of economic development, literacy, urbanization and different unemployment patterns on female labour force participation are found to be negative whereas Gini coefficient is found to be positive. The findings suggest that most of the SANs are still experiencing the downward portion of U-shaped (while India being close to attaining the tipping point sooner as compared to other nations) may be, due to being at the early stages of economic development. In the present scenario, policy interventions should handle a variety of issues, including reconstructing access to and significance of education and training programmes and boosting private sector development in industries and regions that would escalate job opportunities for women in developing countries.


2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 155
Author(s):  
Abeer Mohamed Ali Abd Elkhalek

The study has presented the lacking aspects concerning women and their roles in the economic development of the country through the assessment of their participation in service sectors through empirical evidence. The findings have shown a significant and positive impact of female illiteracy rate, GPP Growth rate, and industrial share on the female labour force participation. However, there is negative impact of female unemployment on female labour force participation on the female labour force participation. The results have also shown an insignificant and negative impact of urbanization share and industrial share. There is negative but significant impact of industrial share on the female force labour participation in Egypt. The results emphasize on the participation and economic development of female population in the service sector.


2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (7) ◽  
pp. 1962 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amaia Altuzarra ◽  
Catalina Gálvez-Gálvez ◽  
Ana González-Flores

In this paper, we studied the relationship between female labour force participation and economic development in the 28 countries of the European Union during the period 1990–2016. The analysis was carried out from two different viewpoints: first, we studied all the countries of the EU-28, and second, the evidence was disaggregated into two groups of countries: old (EU-15) and new (EU-13) member estates. The data used came from the World Bank open data repository and Eurostat. The methodology used consisted of the estimation of static (Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) and Fixed Effects (FE)) and dynamic (generalized moments model—GMM) models. Results for all European countries (EU-28) were consistent with the hypothesis which suggests the existence of a U-shaped relationship between female labour force participation and economic development. When the sample was broken down into groups, we found evidence that confirms the feminization hypothesis for the new countries of the EU, but not for the old ones.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document