Economic development and female labor force participation in Turkey: time-series evidence and cross-province estimates

Recently, several researchers hypothesised that the female labour force participation rate exhibits a U-shape during the process of economic development. This paper provides time series evidence on various aspects of female labour force participation rates in Turkey, it also provides econometric estimates of the determinants of female labour force participation rates across the 67 provinces for the years 1980, 1985 and 1990. A hypothesis investigated is the relationship between female labour force participation and the level of economic development, specifically, the U-shaped hypothesis of female labour force participation.

The main findings of the paper include:

• female labour force participation rates increased considerably in developed countries in recent years
• in contrast, in many developing countries and in Turkey female labour force participation rates show a declining trend
• there are large differences in female participation rates in rural and urban areas
• there are significant variations in female participation rates in various regions of the country
• cross-province estimates seem to validate the U- shaped hypothesis between female labour force participation and the level of economic development
• the rate of economic growth and level of female education were both found to have a strong positive effect on female labour force participation
• unemployment had a considerable discouraging effect on female labour force participation while the impact of education was strongly positive
• employment shares of agriculture and industry were found to have positive and negative impact respectively, on female participation rates.

The author recommends the following:

• increasing female education levels as this will increase female labour force participation rates
• improving unemployment rates in labour markets, which will draw discouraged workers into the labour force
• introducing measures to decrease unemployment rates and improve labour market conditions that will contribute to increasing female labour force participation.

The author concludes that the analysis presented in this paper may prove useful to policy makers in designing labour market policies, initiatives and programs appropriate for promoting female labour force participation.