Democracy and Female Labor Force Participation: An Empirical Examination

Ghazal Bayanpourtehrani and Kevin Sylwester ()

Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, 2013, vol. 112, issue 3, 749-762

Abstract: This paper empirically examines associations between female labor force participation (FLFP) and democracy. Using a cross-country, time series (1980–2005) data set, we find evidence that FLFP is lower in democracies. One possible explanation is that dictators promote FLFP above what traditional norms would dictate and so a greater freedom to follow custom lowers FLFP. However, we also find that the ratio of FLFP to male labor force participation (MLFP) is similar under both types of regimes and that MLFP is also lower in democracies. This outcome casts doubt on the aforementioned explanation. Instead, one possibility is that both men and women voluntarily withdraw from the labor force with greater freedoms. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2013

Keywords: Female labor force participation; Democracy; Women’s rights (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2013
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (7)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:soinre:v:112:y:2013:i:3:p:749-762

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DOI: 10.1007/s11205-012-0080-2

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