Economics & Sociology
ISSN: 2071-789X eISSN: 2306-3459 DOI: 10.14254/2071-789XIndex PUBMS: f5512f57-a601-11e7-8f0e-080027f4daa0

Title: | Economic growth and female labor force participation – verifying the U-feminization hypothesis. New evidence for 162 countries over the period 1990-2012 |
Issue: |
Vol. 8, No 1, 2015
Published date: 20-05-2015 (print) / 20-05-2015 (online) |
Journal: |
Economics & Sociology
ISSN: 2071-789X, eISSN: 2306-3459 |
Authors: |
Ewa Lechman
Harleen Kaur |
Keywords: | women, female labor force, feminization, U-shaped curve, economic growth |
DOI: | 10.14254/2071-789X.2015/8-1/19 |
Index PUBMS: | 1ec4ecba-aa13-11e7-8eae-080027f4daa0 |
Language: | English |
Pages: | 246-257 (12) |
JEL classification: | J21, O10, O50 |
Website: | https://www.economics-sociology.eu/?322,en_economic-growth-and-female-labor-force-participation-%E2%80%93-verifying-the-u-feminization-hypothesis.-new-evidence-for-162-countries-over-the-period-1990-2012 |
The paper contributes by providing new insights into the relationship between female labor force and eco- nomic growth in 162 world countries over the period 1990- 2012. It was hypothesized that an analysis would reveal a U-shaped relationship between female labor force partici- pation and economic growth. The analysis is run from two different perspectives – in the first, the relationship is exam- ined for a sample encompassing 162 countries; and in the second – the evidence is disaggregated and the relationship is re-examined within four income-groups (low-income, lower-middle-income, upper-middle-income and high-in- come). To examine these relationships, data on female la- bor force participation and per capita income are extracted from the World Development Indicators 2013 database, and the relationship is examined by deploying panel data analysis assuming non-linearity between variables. The main findings support the hypothesis of the U-shaped relation- ship between female labor force participation and economic growth, however high cross-country variability on the field is reported. Moreover, the U-shaped feminization hypoth- esis was not positively verified in the case of low-income countries.