Authors
Abstract
Economic literature has shown significant attention towards the economical analysis of female participation rate since Mincer (1992) and Cain (1966). In the recent years, female participation rate increased considerably in the developed countries, while this rate had a little change in developing countries of Middle East and North of Africa like Iran.
Hence, this study discusses the effects of economic development on female labor force participation rates in selected countries in MENA region in 1990-2010 within the framework of U-shaped hypothesis. In addition to the effects of economic development, other determinants of female labor force participation are also analyzed. To achieve this goal, the method of Fractional Panel Probit is used. In our best knowledge, this method is used for the first time for this issue.
The estimation results suggest that relationship between economic development and the rate of female participation in MENA is U-shaped. Also, higher education has a significant and positive effect on the female participation rate. Unemployment and fertility rate reduce female participation rate in the labor market.
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