What Explains Uneven Female Labor Force Participation Levels and Trends in Developing Countries?
Rapid fertility decline, a strong expansion of female education, and favorable economic conditions should have promoted female labor force participation in developing countries. Yet trends in female labor force participation rates (FLFP) have been quite heterogeneous, rising strongly in Latin Americ...
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okr-10986-350822021-04-23T14:02:15Z What Explains Uneven Female Labor Force Participation Levels and Trends in Developing Countries? Klasen, Stephan LABOR FORCE FEMALE LABOR FORCE PARTICIPATION GENDER FEMALE EMPLOYMENT DISCRIMINATION AGAINST WOMAN EDUCATED WOMEN Rapid fertility decline, a strong expansion of female education, and favorable economic conditions should have promoted female labor force participation in developing countries. Yet trends in female labor force participation rates (FLFP) have been quite heterogeneous, rising strongly in Latin America and stagnating in many other regions, while improvements were modest in the Middle East and female participation even fell in South Asia. These trends are inconsistent with secular theories such as the feminization U hypothesis but point to an interplay of initial conditions, economic structure, structural change, and persistent gender norms and values. We find that differences in levels are heavily affected by historical differences in economic structure that circumscribe women's economic opportunities still today. Shocks can bring about drastic changes, with the experience of socialism being the most important shock to women's labor force participation. Trends are heavily affected by how much women's labor force participation depends on their household's economic conditions, how jobs deemed appropriate for more educated women are growing relative to the supply of more educated women, whether growth strategies are promoting female employment, and to what extent women are able to break down occupational barriers within the sectors where women predominantly work. 2021-02-01T20:20:31Z 2021-02-01T20:20:31Z 2019-08 Journal Article World Bank Research Observer 1564-6971 http://hdl.handle.net/10986/35082 CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 IGO http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/igo World Bank Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the World Bank Publications & Research Publications & Research :: Journal Article |
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LABOR FORCE FEMALE LABOR FORCE PARTICIPATION GENDER FEMALE EMPLOYMENT DISCRIMINATION AGAINST WOMAN EDUCATED WOMEN |
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LABOR FORCE FEMALE LABOR FORCE PARTICIPATION GENDER FEMALE EMPLOYMENT DISCRIMINATION AGAINST WOMAN EDUCATED WOMEN Klasen, Stephan What Explains Uneven Female Labor Force Participation Levels and Trends in Developing Countries? |
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Rapid fertility decline, a strong expansion of female education, and favorable economic conditions should have promoted female labor force participation in developing countries. Yet trends in female labor force participation rates (FLFP) have been quite heterogeneous, rising strongly in Latin America and stagnating in many other regions, while improvements were modest in the Middle East and female participation even fell in South Asia. These trends are inconsistent with secular theories such as the feminization U hypothesis but point to an interplay of initial conditions, economic structure, structural change, and persistent gender norms and values. We find that differences in levels are heavily affected by historical differences in economic structure that circumscribe women's economic opportunities still today. Shocks can bring about drastic changes, with the experience of socialism being the most important shock to women's labor force participation. Trends are heavily affected by how much women's labor force participation depends on their household's economic conditions, how jobs deemed appropriate for more educated women are growing relative to the supply of more educated women, whether growth strategies are promoting female employment, and to what extent women are able to break down occupational barriers within the sectors where women predominantly work. |
format |
Journal Article |
author |
Klasen, Stephan |
author_facet |
Klasen, Stephan |
author_sort |
Klasen, Stephan |
title |
What Explains Uneven Female Labor Force Participation Levels and Trends in Developing Countries? |
title_short |
What Explains Uneven Female Labor Force Participation Levels and Trends in Developing Countries? |
title_full |
What Explains Uneven Female Labor Force Participation Levels and Trends in Developing Countries? |
title_fullStr |
What Explains Uneven Female Labor Force Participation Levels and Trends in Developing Countries? |
title_full_unstemmed |
What Explains Uneven Female Labor Force Participation Levels and Trends in Developing Countries? |
title_sort |
what explains uneven female labor force participation levels and trends in developing countries? |
publisher |
Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the World Bank |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/10986/35082 |
_version_ |
1764482287361064960 |