Does Globalization Encourage Female Employment? A Cross-Country Panel Study

Asrifa Hossain, Shankar Ghimire, Anna Valeva and Jessica Harriger-Lin
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Asrifa Hossain: School of Accounting, Finance, Economics and Decision Sciences, Western Illinois University, 1 University Circle, Macomb, IL 61455, USA
Shankar Ghimire: School of Accounting, Finance, Economics and Decision Sciences, Western Illinois University, 1 University Circle, Macomb, IL 61455, USA
Anna Valeva: School of Accounting, Finance, Economics and Decision Sciences, Western Illinois University, 1 University Circle, Macomb, IL 61455, USA
Jessica Harriger-Lin: School of Accounting, Finance, Economics and Decision Sciences, Western Illinois University, 1 University Circle, Macomb, IL 61455, USA

World, 2022, vol. 3, issue 2, 1-13

Abstract: The objective of the paper is to examine whether female participation in the labor force (FPLF) is influenced by a country’s participation in international markets through foreign direct investment (FDI)—a proxy for globalization. We obtained a panel dataset from the World Development Indicators database for 99 countries from 2001 to 2018, and used the system generalized method of moments (system GMM) to estimate a dynamic panel model with appropriate specification tests. The results show that FDI encourages FPLF to some extent, but the positive effects are more robust for low- and middle-income countries than high-income countries. We also found that results are sensitive to extreme outlier observations in the explanatory factor FDI. These results have important policy implications for low- and middle-income countries; they recommend a focus on sectors that generate higher FDI, as these sectors stand to yield the greatest benefits with regards to female labor force participation.

Keywords: female participation in labor force (FPLF); foreign direct investment (FDI); system GMM (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: G15 G17 G18 L21 L22 L25 L26 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 R51 R52 R58 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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