Economic and demographic factors affecting the economic participation of rural women in the provinces of Iran with emphasis on the age- participation curve

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 Professor/University of Mazandaran

2 Master of Economics, University of Mazandaran

Abstract

we study the effects of socio-economic and demographic factors on women's economic participation in rural areas of Iran's provinces with emphasis of age-participation curve. Therefore, this study was performed by using the results of the rural households’ income and expenditure survey -has been taken in 2016- in the framework of Pseudo-Panel Data. We used the logit model and the maximum likelihood method to study the rural women's participation, with 28,265 observations. Results show the inverted U-shaped relationship between age and the probability of female participation; In other words, young women are more likely to participate in labor markets more than the other groups. Divorced and single woman has more likely to participate in comparison with who was being married. Therefore, with increasing the divorce rate and singleness in Iran, economic policymakers must provide appropriate solutions for this challenge in the coming years. We found that women studying and the presence of an infant under the age of 6 in the household has a negative effect on the possibility of women's participation in the labor market. The female education has positive effect on their participation rate. In the overlook, considering the demographic mirror and due to the frequency of the women population in the age group of 25 to 35 years, and more willingness of women in the age 35 to 44 years to participate in the labor market, and education of a significant portion of the rural women, the increase of rural female participation is expected in the years ahead.

Keywords


  1. 1. International Labour Organization. ILOSTAT - The leading source of labour statistics.
  2. 2. Ghavidel S. Women’s Economic Participation. Ministry of Labor, Cooperation and Social Welfar; 2019.
  3. 3. Hosney SH. Factors influencing female labor force participation in Egypt and Germany: A comparative study. Deutsches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung (DIW), Berlin; 2016. (SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research). Report No.: 826.
  4. 4. Sadeghi M. Emadzadeh M. Analysis of economic factors affecting Iranian women’s employment. Women in Development & Politics (Journal of Women’s Research). 2004; 2(1): 5–22.
  5. 5. Elmi Z. Roostaei Shalmani K. Impact of Development on Female Economic Participation in MENA Countries by Fractional Panel Probit Model. Economic Growth and Development Research. 2014; 4(14): 11–28. [DOI: 20.1001.1.22285954.1393.4.14.1.6]
  6. 6. Abdoli G. Varahrami V. A survey on the factors of affecting employment of married women in Tehran with emphasis on the economic variables. Journal of Population Association. 2009; 4(7): 169–81.
  7. 7. Kavand H. Avazalipour MS. Zandi F. Damankeshideh M. The Role of Gender in Economic Participation and the Key Women Employment Factors: a Case of Iran. The Journal of Economic Policy. 2011; 3(6): 189–213.
  8. 8. Arabmzar A. Sadegh Alipour M. Zare Niyakooki Y. An Analysis of socio-Economic factors affecting The Women Employment in Iran. Journal of Economics and Modeling. 2014; 5(17–18): 75–91.
  9. 9. Mincer J. Labor force participation of married women: A study of labor supply. In: Aspects of labor economics. 1962. p. 63–105 in , Aspects of Labor Economics.
  10. 10. Becker GS. A Theory of the Allocation of Time. The Economic Journal. 1965;75(299):493. [DOI: 10.2307/2228949]
  11. 11. Gronau R. The Theory of the Allocation of Time. J Polit Econ. 1977; 85(6): 1099–123. [DOI: 10.1086/260629]
  12. 12. Psacharopoulos G. Tzannatos Z. Education and Female Labor Force Participation. In ERIC; 1987. p. 40.
  13. 13. Roostaei Shalmani K. Impact of education on female economic participation in MENA countries. Mazandaran University; 2013.
  14. 14. Akerlof GA. Quality Uncertainty and the Market Mechanism. The Q J Econ. 1970; 84(3): 488. [DOI: 10.2307/1879431]
  15. 15. Roostaei Shalmani K. Impact of education on female economic participation in MENA countries. Mazandaran University; 2013, in; Amsden AH. The economics of women and work. Penguin Books; 1980.
  16. 16. Chen J. Shao X. Murtaza G. Zhao Z. Factors that influence female labor force supply in China. Econ Model. 2014;37:485–91. [DOI: 10.1016/j.econmod.2013.11.043]
  17. 17. Tansel A. Economic Development and Female Labor Force Participation in Turkey: Time-Series Evidence and Cross-Section Estimates. SSRN Electronic Journal. 2002; (02/3). [DOI: 10.2139/ssrn.301946]
  18. 18. Bratti M. Labour force participation and marital fertility of Italian women: The role of education. J Popul Econ. 2003; 16(3): 525–54. [DOI: 10.1007/s00148-003-0142-5]
  19. 19. Smits J. Gündüz-Hosgör A. The status of rural women in Turkey: What is the role of regional differences. NiCE Working Paper.
  20. 20. Spierings N. Smits J. Verloo M. Micro- and Macrolevel Determinants of Women’s Employment in Six Arab Countries. J Marriage Fam. 2010; 72(5): 1391–407. [DOI: 10.1111/j.1741-3737.2010.00772.x]
  21. 21. Evans MDR. Kelley J. Trends in women’s labor force participation in Australia: 1984–2002. Soc Sci Res. 2008; 37(1): 287–310. [DOI: 10.1016/j.ssresearch.2007.01.009]
  22. 22. Euwals R. Knoef M. van Vuuren D. The trend in female labour force participation: what can be expected for the future? Empir Econo. 2011; 40(3): 729–53. [DOI: 10.1007/s00181-010-0364-9]
  23. 23. Faridi MZ. Malik S. Basit AB. Impact of Education on Female Labour Force Participation in Pakistan: Empirical Evidence from Primary Data Analysis. Pakistan Journal of Social Sciences (PJSS). 2009; 29(1): 127–40.
  24. 24. Ince M. How the education affects female labor force? Empirical evidence from Turkey. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences. 2010; 2(2): 634–9. [DOI: 10.1016/j.sbspro.2010.03.076]
  25. 25. Castel V. Phiri M. Stampini M. Education and employment in Malawi. African Development Bank; 2010. Report No.: 110.
  26. 26. Md M. Education and women’s participation in Indian economy: A regional analysis. Journal of Geography and Regional Planning. 2012; 5(2): 36–50. [DOI: 10.5897/jgrp11.079]
  27. 27. Emadzadeh M. The importance of investing in women’s education. Women in Development and Politics (Women’s Research). 2003; 3(7): 115–40.
  28. 28. Iravani M. Women, the higher education system and employment in Iran. The Quarterly Journal of Quantitative Economics. 1995; 2(2): 82–102.
  29. 29. Elmi Z. Zaroki S. Mahdavi Chabok SM. Measurement of effective demographic factors on women’s economic participation in urban areas of Iran. Woman in Development & Politics. 2014; 12(4): 525–44. [DOI: 10.22059/jwdp.2014.54533]
  30. 30. Ntuli M. Determinants of South African Women’s Labour Force Participation, 1995-2004. SSRN Electronic Journal. 2007; [DOI: 10.2139/ssrn.1031715]
  31. 31. Aziz F. Trends in labor force participation rates by gender and race. Economics School of Business, Hamline University. 2009.
  32. 32. Arango LE. Posada CE. Labor Participation of Married Women in Colombia. Desarro Soc. 2007; (60): 93–126. [DOI: 10.13043/dys.60.3]
  33. 33. Contreras D. Plaza G. Female Labor Force Participation in Chile: How Important Are the Cultural Factors? Fem Econ. 2010; 16(2): 27–46. [DOI: 10.1080/13545701003731815]
  34. 34. Jao YH. Li JCA. Trends in the Employment of Married Mothers of Preschool-Aged Children in Taiwan. Chin Socio Rev. 2012; 44(4): 5–26. [DOI: 10.2753/CSA2162-0555440401]
  35. 35. Noroozi L. The Impact of Higher Education on Women’s Participation Rate and Supply and Predicting Future Developments. 2001. (Expert Manpower Needs Assessment Plan and Human Resource Development Policy). Report No.: 26.
  36. 36. Smits J. Hoşgör AG. Variation in labor market participation of married women in Turkey. Womens Stud Int Forum. 2008; 31(2): 104–17. [DOI: 10.1016/j.wsif.2008.03.003]
  37. 37. Khadim Z. Akram W. Female Labor Force Participation in Formal Sector: An Empirical Evidence from PSLM (2007-08). Middle-East Journal of Scientific Research. 2013; 14(11): 1480–8. [DOI: 10.5829/idosi.mejsr.2013.14.11.2337]
  38. 38. Sarkar S. Sahoo S. Klasen S. Employment transitions of women in India: A panel analysis. World Dev. 2019; 115: 291–309. [DOI: 10.1016/j.worlddev.2018.12.003]
  39. 39. keshavarz G. Baghery Ghanbarabadi M. Individual Married Female Labor Participation: An Application of Parametric and Non-Parametric Econometric Analysis. Journal of Economic Research (Tahghighat- E- Eghtesadi). 2011; 46(4): 151–74.
  40. 40. Agahi H. Mirakzadeh A. Taghi Meigi M. Prioritization of Effective Factors in the Development of Household Jobs in West Islamabad. Journal of Woman & Society. 2012; 3(3): 181–202. [DOI: 20.1001.1.20088566.1391.3.11.8.6]
  41. 41. Karimi Moghari Z. Jahan Tigh E. Factors affecting informal employment of young women in Iran. Journal of Women’s Socio-Psychological Studies. 2014; 12(3): 115–40.
  42. 42. Nouri M. An Analysis on the Extent of Change in Participation of Rural Women in Agriculture Sector: A Case Study of Rural Areas of Torbat-e-Jam County of Iran. Village and Development. 2016; 19(2): 131–53. [DOI: 20.1001.1.15633322.1395.19.2.6.0]
  43. 43. Abbasi Asafjir A. Rezaei Roshan H. An Investigation of Affecting Factors on Women’s Participation among Selected Countries in the Middle East. Quarterly Journal of Women and Society. 2017; 8(31): 73–92. [DOI: 1001.1.20088566.1396.8.31.5.8]
  44. 44. Alipour MS. The Effect of Women’s Higher Education on Employment in Rural Areas of Iran. Journal of Population Association of Iran. 2019; 13(26): 67–88.
  45. 45. plan and budget Organization. Statistical information service system. Household expenses and income.
  46. 46. plan and budget Organization. statistical center of iran.
  47. 47. Besamusca J. Tijdens K. Keune M. Steinmetz S. Working Women Worldwide. Age Effects in Female Labor Force Participation in 117 Countries. World Dev. 2015; 74: 123–41. [DOI: 10.1016/j.worlddev.2015.04.015]
  48. 48. Verbeek M. A guide to modern econometrics. John Wiley & Sons; 2008.
  49. 49. Muench C. van Wijnbergen S. Education and Labor Market Activity of Women: An Age-Group Specific Empirical Analysis. SSRN Electronic Journal. 2009; [DOI: 10.2139/ssrn.1505279]
  50. 50. Ebrahimpour S. The Impact of Socio-Economic Factors on Poverty in Iran. Mazandaran University; 2011, in: Ghazouani S. Goaied M. The determinants of urban and rural poverty in Tunisia. In Economic Research Forum for the Arab Countries, Iran & Turkey; 2001.
  51. 51. Butler JS. Moffitt R. A Computationally Efficient Quadrature Procedure for the One-Factor Multinomial Probit Model. Econometrica. 1982; 50(3): 761. [DOI: 10.2307/1912613]
  52. 52. Pieters J. Klasen S. Drivers of female labour force participation in urban India during India’s Economic Boom. In: Proceedings of the German Development Economics Conference. Leibniz Information Center for Economics; 2011.
  53. 53. Mirzaei H. The affecting factors on the women’s economic participation in Iran by using panel data regression model. Women’s Research. 2004; 2(1): 113–32.
  54. 54. Ghazouani S. Goaied M. The determinants of urban and rural poverty in Tunisia. In Economic Research Forum for the Arab Countries, Iran & Turkey; 2001.
  55. 55. Deaton A. Panel data from time series of cross-sections. J Econom. 1985; 30(1–2): 109–26. [DOI: 10.1016/0304-4076(85)90134-4]