Globalization and Female Participation in Labor Force: Evidence from Developing Nations

Abstract

Today, the inclusion of women in the political, social and economic spheres is crucial for sustainable development. In this effort, globalization acts as a catalyst by creating relationships and opportunities that give women greater economic and social influence. This study is concerned with exploring the influence of globalization and its various dimensions, such as economic, social and political, on women's participation in the labor force in developing countries. We have collected panel data covering 131 developing countries over three years and specify four models that are estimated by the fixed effect method using the OLS within-effects. We explored that overall globalization, economic globalization and social globalization are positively and significantly associated with female participation in the labor force on average. In contrast, political globalization has an insignificant influence on female participation in the labor force. The results of other covariates suggest that female fertility rate, urban population and employment in the industrial sector are significant determinants of female participation in economic activity. Hence, on the basis of these results, it can be prescribed that policy should be formulated to support more economic and social integration at the global level in the context of developing countries.