The Impact of Economic Growth on Female Labour Force Participation: Evidence from Southern African Countries
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.18533/job.v7i01.247Keywords:
Economic growth, female labor force participation, geographic locations, feminization U-HypothesisAbstract
This paper investigates the impact of economic growth on female labor force participation in Southern Africa, testing the feminization U-shaped Hypothesis. The paper drew from the fact that there is conflicting empirical evidence about the existence of the U-shaped relationship between economic growth and female labor force participation. We argue that cross-country predictions of the U-shaped hypothesis in Southern Africa can give a balanced reflection of the nexus when the region’s uniqueness and diversity are incorporated. This kind of investigation may not only help in finding compatible actionable policies to upsurge female labour force participation, but also promote evidence-based policies for the economic empowerment of women in Southern Africa.
Based on the panel threshold and fixed effect model on 15 SADC countries over the period 2000–2018, the findings confirm the U-shaped relationship between growth and female labor force participation in Southern Africa. But the U disappears in the Islands when data is disaggregated according to geographic regions within Southern Africa i.e. (Islands, landlocked, and not landlocked/with coastline countries). The study recommends that the analysis of economic growth and female labor force participation nexus in Southern Africa should consider the importance of geographic locations. This is especially critical since female labour force participation in parts of SADC like the islands and landlocked countries may be influenced by challenges that are geographically inherent to them.
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