Male Labor Force Participation Rates Research Articles

Literate & Technical Female Labour Force Participation in Pakistan’s Economic Change

This study examines the relationship among “female labour force participation”, “technical education”, and “economic growth” in Pakistan. As we know, there is more prosperity when skilled females become part of the economy. The authors assessed the secondary data sources from 2001-2020 and applied various diagnostics based on the theoretical background and research methodologies. Specifically, the Autoregressive Distributed Lag is applied for analysis as per the nature of the data. This study provides insight into how increasing the “female labour force participation rate” with “technical education” spurs “economic growth” in Pakistan. The empirical results show that technical education, female labor force participation rate, male labor force participation rate, and gross fixed capital formation positively influence economic growth. Only the inflation rate and exchange rate hurt economic growth. This study aims to guide policymakers, educators, and economic stakeholders towards measures to maximize the benefits of increased “female labour force participation” and improved technical education in Pakistan. Its results are giving more deep understanding of some critical aspects of women’s employment and empowerment and provide more practical ideas for prosperous future of Pakistan. However, the study has some limitations like constraints in resources, time and specific targeted data.

Association between labor force participation rates and the total fertility rate in Iran: gender aspect

The influence of economic growth on the Total Fertility Rate (TFR) has been widely discussed and demonstrated in many research papers. The labor force participation rate and the unemployment rate as economic indicators play an important role in the TFR dynamics. Different studies have shown that fluctuations in female and male labor force participation rates have either positive or negative impacts on the TFR. In this study, we aim to investigate if there is any positive or negative correlation between female and male labor participation rates and the TFR in Iran. We applied time-series analysis for the period 1991-2019. We used secondary data from official bodies such as Iran’s Ministry of Cooperatives Labor and Social Welfare, the World Bank data, the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the International Development Association, the Statistical Center of Iran, and the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs Population Dynamics to explain the trends in labor force participation rates, unemployment rates, and the TFR. We also applied Pearson correlation analysis and regression analysis to measure the strength and direction of these relationships. The results of the study show that the female labor force participation rate has a negative correlation (r = -0.783, sig. = 0.000), and the male labor force participation rate has a positive correlation with the TFR (r = 0.827, sig. = 0.000). Men’s unemployment seems to have a negative correlation (r = -0.366, sig. = 0.050), and women’s unemployment seems to have no correlation with the TFR. Considering the economic problems in Iran, more women will enter the labor market in the nearest future, therefore they postpone their marriage and the TFR will continue to decline.

Jointly Modeling Male and Female Labor Participation and Unemployment

The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in the most abrupt changes in U.S. labor force participation and unemployment since the Second World War, with different consequences for men and women. This paper models the U.S. labor market to help to interpret the pandemic’s effects. After replicating and extending Emerson’s (2011) model of the labor market, we formulate a joint model of male and female unemployment and labor force participation rates for 1980–2019 and use it to forecast into the pandemic to understand the pandemic’s labor market consequences. Gender-specific differences were particularly large at the pandemic’s outset; lower labor force participation persists.

The impact of gender inequality in education and employment on economic performance in Turkey: evidence from a cointegration approach

PurposeThis study aims to empirically examine the impact of gender-based inequalities in both education and employment on economic performance using the dataset of Turkey for the period 1975–2018.Design/methodology/approachThis study employs Johansen cointegration tests to analyze the existence of a long-term relation among variables. Furthermore, dynamic ordinary least squares (DOLS) and fully modified ordinary least squares (FMOLS) estimation methods are performed to determine the long-run coefficients.FindingsThe findings from the Johansen cointegration analysis confirm that there is a long-term cointegration relation between variables. Moreover, DOLS and FMOLS results reveal that improvements in gender equality in both education and employment have a strong and significant impact on real gross domestic product (GDP) per capita in the long term.Originality/valueThe authors expect that this study will make remarkable contributions to the future academic studies and policy implementation, as it examines the relation among the variables by including the school life expectancy from primary to tertiary based on the gender parity index (GPI), the gross enrollment ratio from primary to tertiary based on GPI and the ratio of female to male labor force participation (FMLFP) rate.

Women at work in the United States since 1860: An analysis of unreported family workers

Estimated labor force participation rates among free women in the pre-Civil War period were exceedingly low. This is due, in part, to cultural or societal expectations of the role of women and the lack of thorough enumeration by Census takers. This paper develops an augmented labor force participation rate for free women in 1860 and compares it with the augmented rate for 1920 and today. Our methodology identifies women who are likely providing informal and unenumerated labor for market production in support of a family business, that is, unreported family workers. These individuals are not coded in the original data as formally working, but are likely to be engaged in the labor force on the basis of the self-employment of other relatives in their household. Unreported family workers are classified into four categories: farm, merchant, craft, and boardinghouse keepers. Using microdata, the inclusion of these workers more than triples the free female labor force participation rate in the 1860 Census from 16 percent to 57 percent, more than doubles the participation rate in the 1920 Census from 24 percent to 50 percent, and has a small effect on the currently measured rate of 56 percent (2015-2019 American Community Survey). This suggests that rather than a steep rise from a very low level in the female labor force participation rate since 1860, it has in fact always been high and fairly stable over time. In contrast, the effect of including unreported family workers in the male augmented labor force participation rate is relatively small.

The Effects of Human Capital by Gender on Economic Growth

The issue of human capital by gender has been sparsely discussed in previous literature especially male labour force. The contribution of both genders to economic growth has intensified every year. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the effects of human capital by gender on economic growth in Malaysia. Data ranging from 1982 to 2018 were analysed by using the ARDL approach. The results show that higher male labour force participation rates can boost economic growth in the short run and long run in Malaysia. Higher female labour force participation rates, on the other hand, can reduce economic growth in the short run and long run in Malaysia. Therefore, the government should encourage more male labour to participate in the labour market by giving incentives. More job opportunities should be created for both genders.

DETERMINAN TINGKAT PARTISIPASI ANGKATAN KERJA PEREMPUAN DI INDONESIA TAHUN 2015-2019 MENGGUNAKAN MODEL REGRESI DATA PANEL

Tingkat partisipasi angkatan kerja (TPAK) perempuan di Indonesia selalu lebih rendah dari TPAK laki-laki, bahkan perbedaannya sangat jauh dan tidak pernah mengerucut. Selain itu, tren TPAK perempuan mengalami stagnasi pada kisaran 50 persen selama lebih dari satu dekade terakhir. Oleh karena itu, penelitian ini bertujuan untuk menyelidiki determinan TPAK perempuan di Indonesia tahun 2015-2019. Metode analisis yang digunakan adalah analisis inferensia dengan model regresi data panel. Fixed efffect model (FEM) dengan metode seemingly unrelated regression (SUR) dipilih sebagai model terbaik untuk melakukan estimasi model regresi data panel. Hasil penelitian ini menunjukan bahwa semakin tinggi rata-rata lama sekolah (RLS) perempuan, upah tenaga kerja perempuan, jumlah tenaga kerja sektor industri pengolahan, jumlah tenaga kerja sektor pertanian dan produk domestik regional bruto atas dasar harga konstan (PDRB ADHK) dapat meningkatkan TPAK perempuan di Indonesia. Sementara itu, semakin tinggi jumlah penduduk yang mengurus rumah tangga dapat menurunkan TPAK perempuan di Indonesia.

Women at Work in the United States Since 1860: An Analysis of Unreported Family Workers

Estimated labor force participation rates among free women in the pre-Civil War period were exceedingly low. This is due, in part, to cultural or societal expectations of the role of women and the lack of thorough enumeration by Census takers. This paper develops an augmented labor force participation rate for free women in 1860 and compares it with the augmented rate for 1920 and today. Our methodology identifies women who are likely providing informal and unenumerated labor for market production in support of a family business, that is, unreported family workers. These individuals are not coded in the original data as formally working, but are likely to be engaged in the labor force on the basis of the self- employment of other relatives in their household. Unreported family workers are classified into four categories: farm, merchant, craft, and boardinghouse keepers. Using microdata, the inclusion of these workers more than triples the free female labor force participation rate in the 1860 Census from 16 percent to 57 percent, more than doubles the participation rate in the 1920 Census from 24 percent to 50 percent, and has a trivial effect on the currently measured rate of 56 percent (2015-2019 American Community Survey). This suggests that rather than a steep rise from a very low level in the female labor force participation rate since 1860, it has in fact always been high and fairly stable over time. In contrast, the effect of including unreported family workers in the male augmented labor force participation rate is relatively small.

On the Determinants of Fertility: Evidence from Developing and Developed Countries

This paper studies the determinants of fertility in a panel of 150 developing and developed nations. The paper finds striking differences between these two groups. Taxation, income per capita and female labor-force participation positively affect fertility of the developed countries, but they do not have robust effects on fertility in the developing world. The male labor-force participation rate is important in explaining fertility in developing countries and it has a bigger (positive) impact on fertility than the female labor-force participation rate. Furthermore, a model with only the female labor-force participation rate and the tax rate explains a significant portion of fertility of the developed nations, but it fully fails in accounting for fertility of the developing countries. Adding the mortality rate enables the model to explain nearly 70% of the fertility of developing countries, but does not significantly improve the explanation of fertility of developed countries. The paper, thus, suggests that standard models of endogenous fertility that are centered around female labor supply may be ill-suited to explain fertility in developing countries and that the mortality rate remains the key determinant of fertility of this group. A possible explanation for this result is that the typical economic considerations that people in developed countries make with respect to fertility are not, in general, equally relevant for developing nations.

Accounting for Differences in Female Labor Force Participation between China and India

Abstract Although, the male labor force participation rate is comparable in China and India, female labor force participation rate remains very low in India. In this paper, we examine the factors responsible for the difference in female labor force participation rate between the two countries by carrying out decomposition exercise at three points of time covering two decades. We find that the differences in female labor force participation rate are not explained by the differences in characteristics across the two countries in each of the three year studied. The differences in returns to these characteristics explain most of the differences in participation rate.

A STUDY ON FEMALE LABOR FORCE PARTICIPATION IN INDIA

The prediction of the neoclassical theory of HR suggests that increase in women’s education and literacy levels should generally result in a rise in the female labor force participation. As per the report of census in 2010, an inversely proportional relationship is been seen between them. This is also known as the U-shaped relationship that exists between the female literacy levels and workforce participation rates.  In India, the Female Labor Force Participation (FLFP) rate remains extremely low at around 27% in comparison with the male labor force participation rate, which is around 79.9%. In the recent years, India has seen this trend of vanishing women workforce, which was opposite from what was predicted due to the increase in female literacy level. According to an IMF (International Monetary Fund) research it is predicted that the Indian economy can be boosted by 27%, if the participation of women in the workforce is increased to that of the level of men. India is still a patriarchal society, and even if the women are working, they are still expected to contribute to their household chores and duties. This creates a demotivating factor and lack of enthusiasm to overtake more responsibilities in their workplace. In spite of providing flexible work hours, the employees effectiveness in Indian working scenario is still judged on the basis of long working hours, the tendency to travel for work, which is not that much feasible for any middle class working female. The objective of this study is to identify certain cultural and structural factors that has contributed in this inversely proportional relationship.

Flow Origins of Labor Force Participation Fluctuations

We investigate the origins of cyclical and trend movements in the labor force participation rate (LFPR) using a three-state flow decomposition. The procyclicality of LFPR can be traced to cyclical flows between employment and unemployment. By contrast, labor force entry and exit explain virtually all of the trend movements. Among men, rising labor force exit rates account for two-thirds of the trend decline in male LFPR since the 1990s. For women, trend increases in female LFPR during the 1990s were dominated by declining exit rates, while the trend decline since the Great Recession can be traced to declining entry rates.

The real exchange rate, structural change, and female labor force participation

While a large literature examines the role of fiscal policy in reducing gender gaps in labor market outcomes, scant evidence exists for the role of monetary and exchange rate policies in doing so. Recent studies have shown that targeting an undervalued real exchange rate stimulates economic growth by expanding tradable sector output. We examine whether such growth reduces gender gaps in labor force participation by improving labor market opportunities for women. Using a comprehensive cross-country dataset from 1960 to 2015 for a maximum of 103 countries, we test whether there is a robust relationship between currency undervaluation and female labor force participation. We find that countries that maintain an undervalued real exchange rate realize an increase in female labor force participation, and a corresponding decline in the difference between male and female labor force participation rates. This finding is particularly pertinent for developing countries and is robust to various specification checks as well as different estimation techniques. We also provide suggestive evidence that the operative channel is an expansion of female employment in manufacturing and industrial sectors. Our findings have important policy implications, particularly for countries in earlier stages of their development. Our results indicate that the positive effect of undervaluation on female labor force participation is stronger in developing countries, implying that there may be opportunities for interventions to target a more undervalued real exchange rate in these countries. Hence, competitive exchange rate policies matter not only for raising long-term growth potential, but also for reducing longstanding gender disparities in labor force participation.

Accounting for Differences in Female Labor Force Participation between China and India

Although, the male labor force participation rate is comparable in China and India, female labor force participation rate remains very low in India. In this paper, we examine the factors responsible for the difference in female labor force participation rate between the two countries by carrying out decomposition exercise at three points of time covering two decades. We find that the differences in female labor force participation rate are not explained by the differences in characteristics across the two countries in each of the three year studied. The differences in returns to these characteristics explain most of the differences in participation rate.

Accounting for Differences in Female Labor Force Participation between China and India

Although, the male labor force participation rate is comparable in China and India, female labor force participation rate remains very low in India. In this paper, we examine the factors responsible for the difference in female labor force participation rate between the two countries by carrying out decomposition exercise at three points of time covering two decades. We find that the differences in female labor force participation rate are not explained by the differences in characteristics across the two countries in each of the three year studied. The differences in returns to these characteristics explain most of the differences in participation rate.

Enabling Women Entrepreneurs: Exploring Factors That Mitigate the Negative Impact of Fertility Rates on Female Entrepreneurship

SUMMARYIn the wake of the global financial crisis that resulted in many business closures and given the long‐term problem of population aging in advanced countries and poverty in low‐income countries, it has become important to investigate whether new business formation by women entrepreneurs is a path to prosperity even when countries experience low fertility rates. Existing country studies suggest that female entrepreneurship can have favorable development outcomes through the channels of employment, innovation and welfare, but this paper undertakes a holistic cross‐country analysis on the determinants of female entrepreneurship, exploring the role of fertility rates in affecting female entrepreneurial outcomes. We find that the impact of fertility rate is negative and significant in influencing entrepreneurship. But factors like greater tertiary enrollment of females and higher ratios of female to male labor force participation rates can offset the negative impact of fertility rate and in fact can make the impact positive. Additionally, greater access to informal finance makes female enrollment more effective in mitigating the negative impact of fertility rate.

The impacts of workers' remittances on human capital and labor supply in developing countries

This study investigates the impacts of workers' remittances on human capital and labor supply by using data for 122 developing countries from 1990 to 2015. This topic has not been explored thoroughly at the aggregate level, mainly due to endogeneity of remittances and the difficulty in finding instruments to resolve this issue. To address the endogeneity of remittances, I estimate bilateral remittances and use them to create weighted indicators of remittance-sending countries. These weighted indicators are used as instruments for remittance inflow to remittance-receiving countries. Results obtained in this study indicate that remittances raise per capita health expenditures and reduce undernourishment prevalence, depth of food deficit, prevalence of stunting, and child mortality rate. Remittances also raise school enrollment, school completion rate, and private school enrollment. Although there is no difference in the impact of remittances on the health outcome of boys and girls, remittances improve the educational outcome of girls more than the educational outcome of boys. Further, remittances decrease the female labor force participation rate but do not affect the male labor force participation rate.

The Impacts of Workers' Remittances on Human Capital and Labor Supply in Developing Countries

This study investigates the impacts of workers' remittances on human capital and labor supply by using data for 122 developing countries from 1990 to 2015. This topic has not been explored thoroughly at the aggregate level, mainly due to endogeneity of remittances and the difficulty in finding instruments to resolve this issue. To address the endogeneity of remittances, I estimate bilateral remittances and use them to create weighted indicators of remittance-sending countries. These weighted indicators are used as instruments for remittance inflow to remittance-receiving countries. Results obtained in this study indicate that remittances raise per capita health expenditures and reduce undernourishment prevalence, depth of food deficit, prevalence of stunting, and child mortality rate. Remittances also raise school enrollment, school completion rate, and private school enrollment. Although there is no difference in the impact of remittances on the health outcome of boys and girls, remittances improve the educational outcome of girls more than the educational outcome of boys. Further, remittances decrease the female labor force participation rate but do not affect the male labor force participation rate.

Nicholas Eberstadt, Men without Work: America’s Invisible Crisis

Abstract. Since 1965, male labor force participation rates have decreased. Nick Eberstadt illustrates the magnitude of the decrease, proposes mostly supply-side explanations, and extends a research agenda into this vital policy issue. Keywords. Unemployment; Employment; American economy; American social structure. JEL. B10, L66, Q18.

Oh Brother Where Art Thou?: The Struggles of African American Men in the Global Economy of the Information Age

As early as the late 1980’s, William Wilson argued that widespread economic transitions had altered the socioeconomic structure of American inner cities to the detriment of African Americans. Wilson identified declines in manufacturing work and its replacement with poorly compensated service sector work as driving racial segregation and leaving African Americans jobless, poor and alienated from American society. These transitions were particularly problematic for African American men since manufacturing work was their primary gateway to middle-class employment while African American women had already focused more on service work. Since the initial exposition of Wilson’s theory of deindustrialization, Wilson’s framework of transition, disadvantage and alienation has proven true with a vengeance for working class African American men. The decline in manufacturing jobs since the 1980’s has left African American men without their traditional gateway to the middle-class and accelerated the decline of American unions which benefited those men. As the economy transitioned from manufacturing to service jobs, African American men’s disadvantages in education have left them at a loss in competing for the high wage jobs that remain. At the same time de-industrialization was sweeping our economy, the nation waged a “War on Drugs,” largely at the expense of inner city African American men who suffered high rates of imprisonment with long mandatory sentences even for non-violent offences. These high rates of imprisonment removed African American men from the Black community and left them at a serious disadvantage in an increasingly competitive low-skilled labor market. As their prospects for employment declined, African American men became increasingly alienated from the labor market and the family. Although the labor force participation rate has declined for all men, it has declined much more steeply for Black men so that Blacks have become the first racial or ethnic group for which the male labor force participation rate is below that of the women. As Black men’s fortunes in the labor market declined, so too did their prospects for marriage and childrearing. Steady employment remains men’s key to marriage and child-rearing and increasingly poor women have decided it was better to have children outside of marriage with the man’s only participation as the subject of child support claims which could also result in imprisonment for non-payment. Although these deleterious transitions have had an impact across the working class, their impact has been particularly hard on African American men because of their high reliance on manufacturing jobs, their greater disadvantages in education and their much harsher treatment under our criminal justice system. In this chapter I outline the current problems for African American men in the global economy of the information age.