The Determinants of Female Labor Force Participation in Selected Countries (A Panel Data Analysis)

This article uses a panel data set together with panel data estimation methods to investigate the determinants of female labor force participation rates of 120 countries over the period of 1990-2010. Our dependent variable is female labor force participation as the percentage of the total labor force. Our independent variables are fertility rate, average education years of women, the difference between average education years of women and that of men, physical capital per person, Oil and natural gas rents (% of GDP), the percentage of population living in urban areas, and several dummy variables capturing countries’ income levels and dominant religion. Our estimates indicate a positive and significant relationship between fertility and female labor force participation for low income countries. Moreover, our results suggest that female labor force participation in Muslim countries is significantly less than that of others. The estimated coefficients for the rest of our economic variables are not statistically significant in our regressions.