Female Labor Force Participation in Pakistan and Some MENA Countries

The low-labor force participation rate of female in the MENA countries has been recognized and investigated by many researchers. The multidimensional nature of the issue demands a thorough investigation of different aspects of a region to better understand the factors that affect and, or influence the female labor force participation of that region. This study uses the main determinants found in the previous literature to examine their effects on labor force participation in 4 different countries from different regions but with similar characteristics. For our analysis, we use World Bank Data indicators 2011. We follow the data panel procedure to study the effect of factors, such as literacy rate, eduction, fertility rate, urbanization, trade openness, and per capita GDP on the rate of female labor participation; while accounting of the endogeneity of fertility and literacy rates. We study the effects of these variables using the pooled model, the fixed, and the random effects models. The results indicate that the fixed and random effects models outperform the pooled model. Moreover, the fixed effects and random effects models are equally appropriate in this case. The empirical results of the random effects model indicate that literacy and urbanization rates have a positive and significant effects on female labor participation. Variables such as fertility rate and per capita GDP have a negative and significant effects on female labor participation. Finally, female education enrollment and trade openness do not have a significant effect on FLFP in the countries considered in this study.