Women’s Mobility and Labor Supply: Experimental Evidence from Pakistan

Erica Field () and Kate Vyborny
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Erica Field: Duke University

No 655, ADB Economics Working Paper Series from Asian Development Bank

Abstract: In cities with conservative norms or high crime, female workers may face greater restrictions on their physical mobility. This limits women’s labor market opportunities and the pool of workers that firms can attract. In this study, we experimentally vary access to a transport service in Lahore, Pakistan, to quantify the overall impact of transport to work on men, women, and the differential impact of transport exclusively for women. We show that reducing physical mobility constraints has a large impact on job searching for women, including women who are not searching at baseline. Women’s response is driven by a women-only transport treatment arm, suggesting that safety and social acceptability, rather than simply cost, are key constraints.

Keywords: transport; mobility; gender; female labor force participation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J16 J22 J28 L91 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 37 pages
Date: 2022-04-28
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-dev, nep-exp, nep-gen, nep-lab, nep-tre and nep-ure
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ris:adbewp:0655

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