Can Political Empowerment Help Economic Empowerment? Women Leaders and Female Labor Force Participation in India
This study examines whether political empowerment of women affects their economic participation. In the context of mandated political representation reform for women in India, the study finds that the length of exposure to women politicians affects...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Language: | English en_US |
| Published: |
World Bank, Washington, DC
2014
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2013/10/18429839/can-political-empowerment-help-economic-empowerment-women-leaders-female-labor-force-participation-india http://hdl.handle.net/10986/16890 |
| Summary: | This study examines whether political
empowerment of women affects their economic participation.
In the context of mandated political representation reform
for women in India, the study finds that the length of
exposure to women politicians affects overall female labor
force participation. These effects seem to arise through
direct and indirect channels: political representation of
women directly affects hours of work assigned to women under
the recent national public works program, the Mahatma Gandhi
National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme. In addition, the
level of access to public goods, as influenced by exposure
to women leaders over time, increases the likelihood of
women being engaged in the labor force. The findings suggest
that women's participation in politics could be a
useful policy tool to increase both the supply of and the
demand for labor market opportunities for women, potentially
helping to stem India's declining female labor force
participation rate. |
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