The Influence of Economic Activity of Women in Malaysia and Guatemala on National Development

Verena Habrich, Vito Bobek and Tatjana Horvat

A chapter in Emerging Markets from IntechOpen

Abstract: Emerging markets are amongst some of the fastest-growing economies on the globe. However, it is necessary to enhance human capital to enable the long-term development of a nation. The theory states that the increase in workforce participation favorably impacts GDP per capita. Additionally, developing markets can grow even further if they increase women's rates in the labor market. The authors' desire is to determine the main obstacles for women in the job market and identify the impact of female participation on national development. The authors applied the following methods of work: description and compilation of different literature and deduction method to show which relevant factors are recommended to make higher women's economic activity to impacts the economy in a broader sense. The results show that Emerging markets must overcome gender inequalities, properly enforce female-related regulations, and invest in human development. The results also point out the relevance of a country's level of development, culture, education, female-related laws, and their influence on women's decision or ability to work. The discussion demonstrates that the rate of women in the workforce is increasing, but it is still severely lower than the men's rate. The main issues are cultural stereotypes, limited access to the job market, and difficulties with combining work and childcare. When it comes to infrastructure and educational possibilities, remote areas are still underdeveloped. Furthermore, gender bias is still deeply rooted in rural society. The elimination of these stereotypes and the improvement (and enforcement) of women-related policies will contribute to higher female workforce participation in the future.

Keywords: Female labor force participation; impact on economic growth; economic development; human development; gender and development; human capital; gender gap; gender equality (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O10 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ito:pchaps:219019

DOI: 10.5772/intechopen.97486

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