Testing the validity of feminization U-shape hypothesis for female labor force participation and economic development in Pakistan: a reexamination
Abstract
Purpose
The participation of females in economic activity remains a challenge, and received a lot of attention for a better labor policy discourse. The empirical research focused widely on the relationship between female labor force participation (FLFP) and economic development, called the feminization U-shape hypothesis. However, the linear/nonlinear relationship has been questioned due to empirical and methodological anomalies. Hence, this study aims to extend the previous work by reexamining this relationship in Pakistan.
Design/methodology/approach
The annual data from 1980 to 2021, the unit root tests augmented Dickey–Fuller and Phillips and Perron, the conventional autoregressive distributed lag bound test approach by including the quadratic-term of GDP per capita and the novel Sasabuchi–Lind–Mehlum (SLM) U test (2010) used for empirical estimation.
Findings
The findings revealed the prospects of a long-run nonlinear association between FLFP and economic development in Pakistan. However, an inverse U-shape exists between the female labor force participation rate (FLFPR) and GDP per capita, predicting that FLFP may decline in the future.
Research limitations/implications
The traditional feminization U-shape hypothesis has little empirical support in the case of Pakistan. Therefore, the Government of Pakistan should enhance the enabling environment for females through the provision of better job opportunities, technical skills, on-the-job training and social security benefits during all phases of economic development.
Originality/value
The conventional approach of testing U-shape is insufficient. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, therefore, this study incorporated a wider data set in a time series that is less evident, an advanced methodology SLM U test (2010), to validate the feminization U-shape hypothesis in Pakistan for the first time.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
Saima Sajid acknowledges that a significant part of this paper is extracted from her Ph.D. thesis in Economics from the School of Economics Finance and Banking, Universiti Utara Malaysia.
Citation
Sajid, S., Abdullah, N. and Razak Chik, A. (2024), "Testing the validity of feminization U-shape hypothesis for female labor force participation and economic development in Pakistan: a reexamination", Gender in Management, Vol. ahead-of-print No. ahead-of-print. https://doi.org/10.1108/GM-05-2022-0154
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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