IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/wbk/wbrwps/10664.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Labor Market Participation and Employment Choice in Ghana : Do Individual Personality Traits and Gender Role Attitudes Matter ?

Author

Listed:
  • Akuffo Amankwah
  • Pauline Castaing
  • Nkechi Srodah Owoo
  • Amparo Palacios-Lopez

Abstract

In addition to the conventional determinants of labor market participation and the choice between wage employment and self-employment, there is a growing interest of the significance of gender role attitudes and personality traits. This study uses data from the 2022 Ghana Informal Sector Measurement Study to investigate the influence of these factors on employment outcomes in the Northern and Ashanti regions of Ghana. The findings are based on a series of analyses, including descriptive, multinomial logistic, and linear probability model regressions. The empirical results show the critical role played by both gender role attitudes and personality traits in shaping individuals' decisions on labor market participation and employment choices. Notably, personality traits emerge as significant drivers of observed employment outcomes. However, the impact of these personality traits is often mitigated or even reversed in the presence of heightened traditionalism. Furthermore, the gender-disaggregated analysis reveals that possessing at least a secondary education level is a pivotal factor in the selection of men into formal employment, whereas this criterion holds less significance for women. Conversely, once the decision to participate in the labor market has been made, having at least a secondary education becomes relevant for securing wage employment, regardless of an individual's gender.

Suggested Citation

  • Akuffo Amankwah & Pauline Castaing & Nkechi Srodah Owoo & Amparo Palacios-Lopez, 2024. "Labor Market Participation and Employment Choice in Ghana : Do Individual Personality Traits and Gender Role Attitudes Matter ?," Policy Research Working Paper Series 10664, The World Bank.
    • Handle: RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:10664
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/099847101102435095/pdf/IDU-b8779418-d58c-435d-8ef5-bf24092eacd1.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Schober, Pia & Scott, Jacqueline, 2012. "Maternal Employment and Gender Role Attitudes: Dissonance Among British Men and Women in the Transition to Parenthood," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 26(3), pages 514-530.
    2. D. Contreras & L. de Mello & E. Puentes, 2011. "The determinants of labour force participation and employment in Chile," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 43(21), pages 2765-2776.
    3. Jeffrey R Kling & Jeffrey B Liebman & Lawrence F Katz, 2007. "Experimental Analysis of Neighborhood Effects," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 75(1), pages 83-119, January.
    4. Nicole M Fortin, 2005. "Gender Role Attitudes and the Labour-market Outcomes of Women across OECD Countries," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press and Oxford Review of Economic Policy Limited, vol. 21(3), pages 416-438, Autumn.
    5. Seema Jayachandran, 2015. "The Roots of Gender Inequality in Developing Countries," Annual Review of Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 7(1), pages 63-88, August.
    6. Vincenzo Scoppa & Manuela Stranges, 2019. "Cultural Values and Decision to Work of Immigrant Women in Italy," LABOUR, CEIS, vol. 33(1), pages 101-123, March.
    7. Heineck, Guido & Anger, Silke, 2010. "The returns to cognitive abilities and personality traits in Germany," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 17(3), pages 535-546, June.
    8. Reimers, Cordelia W, 1985. "Cultural Differences in Labor Force Participation among Married Women," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 75(2), pages 251-255, May.
    9. Ana María Muñoz Boudet & Patti Petesch & Carolyn Turk & Angélica Thumala, 2013. "On Norms and Agency : Conversations about Gender Equality with Women and Men in 20 Countries," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 13818.
    10. Pedro Carneiro & Claire Crawford & Alissa Goodman, 2007. "The Impact of Early Cognitive and Non-Cognitive Skills on Later Outcomes," CEE Discussion Papers 0092, Centre for the Economics of Education, LSE.
    11. repec:fth:calaec:2-02 is not listed on IDEAS
    12. repec:cdl:ucsbec:2-02 is not listed on IDEAS
    13. Kuhn, Peter J. & Weinberger, Catherine, 2002. "Leadership Skills and Wages," IZA Discussion Papers 482, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    14. Verena C. Hahn & Michael Frese & Carmen Binnewies & Antje Schmitt, 2012. "Happy and Proactive? The Role of Hedonic and Eudaimonic Well–Being in Business Owners’ Personal Initiative," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 36(1), pages 97-114, January.
    15. Wichert, Laura & Pohlmeier, Winfried, 2010. "Female labor force participation and the big five," ZEW Discussion Papers 10-003, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    16. Platt, Lucinda & Polavieja, Javier, 2016. "Saying and doing gender: intergenerational transmission of attitudes towards the sexual division of labour," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 67302, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    17. Burak Sencer Atasoy, 2017. "Female Labour Force Participation in Turkey: The Role of Traditionalism," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 29(4), pages 675-706, August.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Juliane Hennecke, 2020. "Locus of Control and Female Labor Force Participation," Working Papers 2020-03, Auckland University of Technology, Department of Economics.
    2. He, Jun & Xie, Yongxiang, 2022. "The sociocultural mechanism of obesity: The influence of gender role attitudes on obesity and the gender gap," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 293(C).
    3. Peter Frauke H. & Spiess C. Katharina, 2016. "Family Instability and Locus of Control in Adolescence," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 16(3), pages 1439-1471, September.
    4. Torsten Lietzmann & Corinna Frodermann, 2023. "Gender Role Attitudes and Labour Market Behaviours: Do Attitudes Contribute to Gender Differences in Employment in Germany?," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 37(2), pages 373-393, April.
    5. Jessica Leight & Elaine M. Liu, 2020. "Maternal Education, Parental Investment, and Noncognitive Characteristics in Rural China," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 69(1), pages 213-251.
    6. Krishnan, Pramila & Krutikova, Sofya, 2013. "Non-cognitive skill formation in poor neighbourhoods of urban India," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 24(C), pages 68-85.
    7. Calero, Carla & Gonzalez Diez, Veronica & Soares, Yuri S.D. & Kluve, Jochen & Corseuil, Carlos Henrique, 2017. "Can arts-based interventions enhance labor market outcomes among youth? Evidence from a randomized trial in Rio de Janeiro," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 131-142.
    8. Markowsky, Eva, 2022. "Culture, Female Labour Force Participation, and Selective Migrationː New Meta-Analytic Evidence," WiSo-HH Working Paper Series 65, University of Hamburg, Faculty of Business, Economics and Social Sciences, WISO Research Laboratory.
    9. Shoji, Masahiro, 2020. "Early-Life Circumstances and Adult Locus of Control: Evidence from 46 Developing Countries," MPRA Paper 99987, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    10. Eva M. Berger & Luke Haywood, 2016. "Locus of Control and Mothers’ Return to Employment," Journal of Human Capital, University of Chicago Press, vol. 10(4), pages 442-481.
    11. Martin Schlotter, 2011. "Age at Preschool Entrance and Noncognitive Skills before School - An Instrumental Variable Approach," ifo Working Paper Series 112, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich.
    12. Gensowski, Miriam, 2018. "Personality, IQ, and lifetime earnings," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 170-183.
    13. He, Pan & Veronesi, Marcella, 2017. "Personality traits and renewable energy technology adoption: A policy case study from China," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 107(C), pages 472-479.
    14. Kien Le & My Nguyen, 2023. "Armed conflicts and women's authority in intra‐household decision making," Scottish Journal of Political Economy, Scottish Economic Society, vol. 70(3), pages 249-267, July.
    15. Grinza, Elena & Devicienti, Francesco & Rossi, Mariacristina & Vannoni, Davide, 2017. "How Entry into Parenthood Shapes Gender Role Attitudes: New Evidence from Longitudinal UK Data," IZA Discussion Papers 11088, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    16. De Paola, Maria & Lombardo, Rosetta & Pupo, Valeria & Scoppa, Vincenzo, 2021. "Do Women Shy Away from Public Speaking? A Field Experiment," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).
    17. Xavier Giné & Ghazala Mansuri, 2018. "Together We Will: Experimental Evidence on Female Voting Behavior in Pakistan," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 10(1), pages 207-235, January.
    18. Huichao Du & Yun Xiao & Liqiu Zhao, 2021. "Education and gender role attitudes," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 34(2), pages 475-513, April.
    19. Buehler, Dorothee & Sharma, Rasadhika & Stein, Wiebke, 2019. "Personality traits in Southeast Asia - Evidence from rural Thailand and Vietnam," TVSEP Working Papers wp-014, Leibniz Universitaet Hannover, Institute for Environmental Economics and World Trade, Project TVSEP.
    20. Berman, Eli & Callen, Michael & Gibson, Clark C. & Long, James D. & Rezaee, Arman, 2019. "Election fairness and government legitimacy in Afghanistan," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 168(C), pages 292-317.

    More about this item

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:10664. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Roula I. Yazigi (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/dvewbus.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.