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The Relationship between Female Labor Force Participation and Violent Conflicts in South Asia

Author

Listed:
  • Robertson, Raymond

    (Texas A&M University)

  • Lopez-Acevedo, Gladys

    (World Bank)

  • Morales, Matias

    (World Bank)

Abstract

This paper explores the link between the prevalence of violent conflicts and extremely low female labor force participation rates (FLFPR) in South Asia. We merge Labor Force Surveys (LFSs) from Bangladesh, Sri-Lanka, India, and Pakistan to the Global Terrorism Database (GTD) to estimate the relationship between terrorist attacks and female labor supply. We exploit the availability of geographical level data on exposure to violence, comparing administrative units exposed to attacks with administrative units not exposed. We find that one additional attack reduces FLFP rates by about 0.008 percentage points, on average. Violence has less impact on male labor participation, thus widening the gender labor participation gap. Also, one extra wounded person or one extra killed person reduces FLFP rates by 0.0015 and 0.0048 percentage points on average, respectively. We test the added-worker effect theory - which posits that violence might increase FLFP as women try to make up for lost household income - and find mixed evidence: greater prevalence of attacks may encourage married women to exert more working hours, but when the environment gets more risky as number of dead and wounded people increase, all women work less hours. We also test the non- linearity of various violence effects, finding that violence decreases FLFP less where FLFP was already higher before the advent of violence, and that violence has a progressively greater impact on lowering FLFP where the number of attacks is higher.

Suggested Citation

  • Robertson, Raymond & Lopez-Acevedo, Gladys & Morales, Matias, 2020. "The Relationship between Female Labor Force Participation and Violent Conflicts in South Asia," IZA Discussion Papers 12955, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
  • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp12955
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Ashenfelter, Orley, 1980. "Unemployment as Disequilibrium in a Model of Aggregate Labor Supply," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 48(3), pages 547-564, April.
    2. Killingsworth, Mark R. & Heckman, James J., 1987. "Female labor supply: A survey," Handbook of Labor Economics, in: O. Ashenfelter & R. Layard (ed.), Handbook of Labor Economics, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 2, pages 103-204, Elsevier.
    3. Aparna Mitra & Pooja Singh, 2006. "Human Capital Attainment and Female Labor Force Participation—The Kerala Puzzle," Journal of Economic Issues, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 40(3), pages 779-798, September.
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    5. Schaner , Simone & Das, Smita, 2016. "Female Labor Force Participation in Asia: Indonesia Country Study," ADB Economics Working Paper Series 474, Asian Development Bank.
    6. Claude Berrebi & Jordan Ostwald, 2016. "Terrorism and the Labor Force," Journal of Conflict Resolution, Peace Science Society (International), vol. 60(1), pages 32-60, February.
    7. O. Ashenfelter & R. Layard (ed.), 1987. "Handbook of Labor Economics," Handbook of Labor Economics, Elsevier, edition 1, volume 1, number 1.
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    Cited by:

    1. Rudolf, Robert & Wang, Shun & Wu, Fengyu, 2023. "The Arab Spring, a setback for gender equality? Evidence from the Gallup World Poll," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    2. Mishra, Ankita & Mishra, Vinod & Parasnis, Jaai, 2021. "The asymmetric role of crime in women's and men's labour force participation: Evidence from India," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 188(C), pages 933-961.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    conflict; terrorism; female labor force participation; added-worker effect; South Asia;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J21 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Labor Force and Employment, Size, and Structure
    • F51 - International Economics - - International Relations, National Security, and International Political Economy - - - International Conflicts; Negotiations; Sanctions
    • O53 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economywide Country Studies - - - Asia including Middle East

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