The effect of gender gap in labor market participation on carbon emission efficiency: State-level empirical evidence from the US

Abstract

As structural transformation and economic development have progressed, the issue of climate change has become increasingly critical, concurrently with the growing significance of women in the labor market. Yet, the impact of the gender gap in labor participation rates on carbon emission efficiency remains ambiguous. This article employs a data envelopment analysis model to evaluate carbon emission efficiency, utilizing US state-level data from 2010 to 2021 for an empirical investigation into the influence of the gender gap in labor market participation and unemployment rates on carbon emission efficiency. Overall, the narrowing of the gender gap in the labor market contributes to the improvement of carbon emission efficiency. The detailed findings are as follows: (1) diminishing the gender gap in labor force participation and unemployment rates can enhance carbon emission efficiency, a trend particularly pronounced in states that have adopted the Equal Rights Amendment and during the pre-COVID-19 era; (2) gender gap in labor market participation and unemployment rates affects carbon emission efficiency through skilled labor biased technological progress and income inequality and (3) the increase of innovation efficiency, saving rate and endowment structure can mitigate gender gap in labor market participation and unemployment rates’ effects on carbon emission efficiency.