Industrialization, Female Labor Force Participation, and the Modern Division of Labor by Sex

We examine the effect of industrialization on female labor force participation for 62 countries. Two hypotheses are tested: the emancipation hypothesis and the U-shaped hypothesis. Our results support the U-shaped hypothesis insofar as shifts in the distribution of occupations in early industrialization decrease female labor force participation by removing women from agriculture while excluding them from occupations in manufacturing and management. We further suggest that different paths to industrialization may have different effects on female labor force participation.     

Foreign direct investment,information technology and economic growth dynamics in Sub-Saharan Africa

The research assesses how information and communication technology (ICT) modulates the effect of foreign direct investment (FDI) on economic growth dynamics in 25 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa for the period 1980–2014. The employed economic growth dynamics are Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth, real GDP and GDP per capita while ICT is measured by mobile phone penetration and internet penetration. The empirical evidence is based on the Generalised Method of Moments. The study finds that both internet penetration and mobile phone penetration overwhelmingly modulate FDI to induce overall positive net effects on all three economic growth dynamics. Moreover, the positive net effects are consistently more apparent in internet-centric regressions compared to “mobile phone”-oriented specifications. In the light of negative interactive effects, net effects are decomposed to provide thresholds at which ICT policy variables should be complemented with other policy initiatives in order to engender favourable outcomes on economic growth dynamics. Practical and theoretical implications are discussed.     

The role of ICT in Korea’s economic growth: Productivity changes across industries since the 1990s

This paper investigates the hypothesis that technological convergence has been a major driving force for the recent productivity increase in Korea. Based on the dynamic panel data of Korean industries, the direct impact of information and communication technology (ICT) on labor productivity is assessed through growth accounting, and the indirect network effect of ICT on industrial total factor productivity (TFP) is estimated. The results confirm the essential role of broadband networks for successful convergence. The policy implications for the regulatory change are drawn from the empirical analysis.     

The non-linear relationship between ICT diffusion and financial development

This research investigates the linear and non-linear effects of information and communication technology (ICT) diffusion on financial development for 81 countries over the period 1990–2015 by employing the generalized-momentum method (GMM) and panel smooth transition regression (PSTR). Some main conclusions are presented as follows. First, comparing the different effects of ICT on financial development between the high-income group and the middle- & low-income group, telephone and Internet positively influences both groups’ financial development, whereas mobile cellular causes a negative effect in high-income countries, but a positive effect in middle- & low-income countries. Second, the growth of the Internet and telephones raises the financial development in all regions, while mobile cellular growth positively affects financial development only in Africa. Finally, strong evidence appears that the PSTR models capture the smooth non-linear effects of ICT diffusion on financial development, in which the effect of ICT diffusion on financial development is positive in the lower level of ICT diffusion, but turns negative in the higher level of ICT diffusion.     

The Suburbanization of Industry and Its Effects Upon Labor Force Participation Rates of Suburban Women

Post-World War II intrametropolitan dispersion of industry has been well documented in the literature on contemporary suburbanization. There has, however, been no empirical research conducted to determine the effect of the restructured metropolitan economy upon labor force participation rates of suburban residents, especially of suburban married women. The purpose of this study is to fill this research gap. The hypothesis tested is that increased employment opportunities in the suburbs will increase labor force participation of suburban married women, ceteris paribus . The research results show the hypothesized relationship to be correct. The variable developed in this study and used as a proxy for the degree of intrametropolitan industrial dispersion is statistically significant, albeit a bit weak, in explaining intersuburban variation in labor force participation rates of married women, husband present. Other variables (such as median school years completed) included in more traditional non-spatially oriented labor force behavior models are statistically insignificant in explaining areal variation in participation rates. The findings point up the necessity of recognizing the spatial complexities of the urban economy.     

Trade Openness and Labor Force Participation in Africa: The Role of Political Institutions*

Trade liberalization is usually expected to lead to greater economic activity including higher labor force participation rates. Using data from forty‐eight Sub‐Saharan African countries over the period 1985–2012, we explore the impact of trade openness on labor force participation rates (LFPR), and examine how political institutions such as democracy, political rights, and civil liberties can play a role in driving this relationship in the above group of low‐income countries. The estimated marginal impact of openness on LFPR shows that LFPR is increasing with the level of institutional quality. In particular, political institutions are critical in enhancing the benefit from openness. Our conclusions are similar for male and female participation rates although the magnitudes of the former are higher, thus confirming that improving institutions can generate greater labor market benefits from trade in poor countries.     

Earnings and Percentage Female: A Longitudinal Study

Comparable worth advocates assume that the relation between earnings and percentage female in an occupation is due to crowding or other forms of discrimination. An alternative explanation is that the relation stems from women freely choosing different occupations. Using longitudinal data to control for time-invariant omitted variables, as well as cross-sectional data (for comparison with previous research), we find that although men's estimated penalty is not reduced, the percentage female penalty falls substantially for women and is not statistically significant. These results imply that estimates of the percentage female effect based on cross-sectional data may be inflated for women–except for those with intermittent labor force participation. This group does experience a sizeable penalty for working in female-dominated occupations. Hence, a comparable worth policy would most likely benefit women with discontinuous employment.     

Inclusive growth in Sub-Saharan Africa: Exploring the interaction between ICT diffusion,and financial development

Despite the momentous rise in ICT diffusion, and financial development in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), their plausible joint effect on inclusive growth have not been explored, leaving a lacuna in the literature. This study, therefore, examines the direct and indirect effects of ICT diffusion on inclusive growth in 42 SSA countries over the period 1980–2019. We provide evidence robust to several specifications from the dynamic system GMM to show that: (i) ICT skills, access and usage induce inclusive growth in SSA, and (ii) the effects of ICT skills, access and usage are enhanced in the presence of financial development. These findings remain the same when we focussed on financial institution access. Policy recommendations are provided in line with the region's green growth agenda and striving efforts at improving socioeconomic development.     

Information and communication technologies and employment in developing countries: Effects and transmission channels

This study analyzes the effect of ICT adoption on employment in developing countries. The empirical analysis covers 70 developing countries over the 1996–2017 period. To better characterize the labor market framework in developing countries, the empirical analysis incorporates the impact of ICT adoption on underemployment and labor underutilization. Using panel data techniques, the results show that ICT adoption increases employment, underemployment, and labor underutilization in developing countries. The main transmission channels identified are FDI inflows, human capital, and economic openness. As the main policy implication, policymakers in developing countries should intensify investments in the ICT sector and develop policies conducive to FDI inflows, human capital development, and economic openness to address employment issues.     

Digitalization and economic growth: A comparative analysis of Sub-Saharan Africa and OECD economies

This paper examines the contribution of digitalization to economic growth of Sub Saharan Africa (SSA) in comparison with the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) economies. The main reason for comparing the most and the least developed countries to measure the effects of digitalization is to have an insight of whether such effects depend on the levels of development of the country. New technologies in Sub Saharan Africa are assumed to have played significant roles in economic activity, including accessibility of communications, which was impeded by poor infrastructure, accommodation of the poor majority who were initially financially excluded from mobile banking and participation of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in e-commerce. On the other hand, due to the effects of digitalization, least developed countries in SSA have been facing a premature deindustrialization.This study employs a panel dataset consisting of 11 years from 2006 to 2016 for 41 SSA and 33 OECD economies and we use the generalized linear methods of moments (GMM) estimators. The results show that digitalization has a positive contribution to economic growth in both groups of countries. The effect of broadband internet is minimal for SSA compared to OECD countries, whereas the impact of mobile telecommunications is higher in SSA compared to the OECD counterpart. These results are particularly interesting as less advanced technologies create more opportunities in the least developed countries since there is more space for improvement. With respect to policy implications, this study recommends that SSA governments should invest more in ICT along with other infrastructures, so as to benefit from digitalization and to realize significant economic growth.     

Total factor productivity enablers in the ICT industry: A cross-country firm-level analysis

Advancements in productivity in the digital economy constitute an important engine for economic growth. What drives productivity dynamics in the information and communication technology (ICT) sector? This study examines the productivity dynamics of ICT firms across countries from the perspective of corporate balance sheets. We study the effects of intangible assets and leverage on productivity growth using firm-level panel data from five industrialized countries. We find that intangible assets positively affect the total factor productivity in the ICT sector. The positive effect of intangible assets on total factor productivity growth is larger for ICT manufacturing firms than for ICT service firms. We also find that leverage has a positive relationship with total factor productivity development in the ICT sector. In addition, our empirical results substantiated that productivity is catching up to the technological frontier. Furthermore, larger firms and/or younger firms generally show higher total factor productivity growth than their peers. Economies of scale are more prominent in the ICT service sector than in the ICT manufacturing sector. Our findings contribute to the understanding of cross-country productivity dynamics in the ICT sector at the firm level in the digital economy.     

Labor market participation of Chinese agricultural households: Empirical evidence from Zhejiang province

This work is devoted to the analysis of the different labor market participation regimes of Chinese farm households over the reform process in the 1980s and 1990s. Using household data over the period 1986–2002 from the province Zhejiang, we apply a multinomial logit model to empirically examine household, farm, and regional characteristics affecting the probability that farmers participate in one of four alternative labor market regimes. As generally accepted, off-farm participation is the dominant form of farm households’ labor market participation. But rural households show additionally a significant impact on rural employment mainly linked with non-agricultural household business. Results suggest that labor market decisions are significantly related to several family, farm, and village characteristics. In particular, we find education to be a key determinant of participation. Furthermore, results point to a higher probability of female household members to take up off-farm work.     

Does the ADA Disable the Disabled?— More Comments

This article examines how best to identify individuals with disabilities for analysis of the impact of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990. It also explores whether amending the ADA to broaden its definition of disability can be expected to improve the employment prospects of those who seek its protections. Answering these questions requires that we learn much more about the labor force participation decisions of those with disabilities. Our aim here is to encourage further consideration and analysis of these and related questions regarding the possible effects of the ADA and of other environmental factors that affect the labor force participation of those with disabilities.     

Does the digital economy generate a gender dividend for female employment? Evidence from China

Using data from the China General Social Survey, the China Family Panel Studies, and a unique dataset of enterprises' online recruitment, this research examines the effect of the digital economy on female employment. The empirical results suggest that the digital economy significantly promotes female employment. Consistent with our theoretical analysis, the estimates indicate that this relationship holds because the digital economy promotes the formation of egalitarian gender perspectives, promotes the use of digital technology, and increases labor demand emphasizing the necessity for female-preference occupations. The dividend of the digital economy is tilted toward vulnerable groups in the labor market, including the low-skilled, older, and rural workforce, and only exerts an employment promotion effect on women without parenting burden. Further examination reveals evidence that digitalization has not led to a holistic improvement in the quality of female employment. Digitalization lengthens the working hours of severely underemployed female workers, and improves women's occupational status and job satisfaction; however, it has a minimal impact on protecting employees' rights and interests or reducing overtime workers' work intensity. Nonself-employed, full-time, and part-time workers all benefit from the development of the digital economy, while self-employed workers do not. In addition, a weakening effect of digitalization on the gender employment gap is not evident, which relates to the digital economy generating a female dividend in terms of promoting gender equality and increasing labor demand but resulting in a digital gender divide in the use of digital technology.     

Gender Role Attitudes,Labor Supply,and Human Capital Formation

This study examines the relationship between attitudes toward women's roles in the labor force and human capital acquisition. I analyze both educational attainment and post schooling training spells. Holding more traditional attitudes about gender roles is associated with both lower educational attainment and lower probability of participating in post schooling training episodes. Also, gender role attitudes appear to have significant indirect effects on human capital acquisition, operating through a lower probability of labor market participation.     

The Plateau in U.S. Women's Labor Force Participation: A Cohort Analysis

After going up steadily for the last century, the female labor force participation (FLFP) rate in the United States suddenly leveled off in the early 1990s. Using March Current Population Survey data, I find that the FLFP stopped rising for birth cohorts from the 1950s on. My shift‐share analyses show that both the plateau and the earlier upward trend in FLFP appeared within almost every category broken down by education, marital status, and child‐rearing.     

ICT and economic growth in Sub-Saharan Africa: Transmission channels and effects

Despite significant progress in the empirical analysis of the impact of information and communication technology (ICT) on economic growth, previous studies have not empirically examined the mechanisms by which ICT hinders or expands economic growth. The specific aim of the present study was to identify the transmission channels through which ICT contributes to economic growth. The examined channels included; openness, FDI inflows, education, domestic investment, political institution, and inflation. The study employed the panel-corrected standard errors (PCSE) and system two step system GMM techniques on a sample of 44 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) over the period 2004–2020. Using an ICT composite index, the causal mediation analysis identified that ICT contributed directly to growth, as proposed by the growth theories. Furthermore, the same analysis identified; domestic investment, openness, and education as crucial variables through which ICT penetration indirectly promoted per capita growth in the SSA region. The robustness of this result was verified using a variety of tools. The present findings suggested that the current efforts to expand ICTs in Sub-Saharan Africa should be continued since this sector has a considerable indirect impact on promoting economic growth.     

Do ICTs drive wealth inequality? Evidence from a dynamic panel analysis

Surprisingly, little is known about the cross-country effect of information and communication technology (ICT) on wealth inequality. At the same time, there is some tentative evidence suggesting that information and communication technology is positively correlated with income inequality. However, whether and how ICT affects wealth inequality is less explored, particularly because of the lack of reliable data on wealth inequality. This paper, therefore, fills this gap and contributes to this new literature by investigating the effect of ICT on wealth inequality in a sample of 45 developed and developing countries over the period 2000–2017. ICT is measured with six different indicators (including internet penetration, mobile penetration, ICT service exports, the ICT index, ICT quality, and ICT quantity), while wealth inequality is measured with three different indicators (comprising billionaire wealth to GDP, the Top 1% wealth share, and the Top 10% wealth share). The empirical analysis is based on the Generalised Method of Moments, and the results show that ICT increases wealth inequality. Furthermore, we show that democracy mitigates the increasing effect of ICT on wealth inequality. This result suggests that improving democracy in both developed and developing countries is an effective mechanism for mitigating the effects of ICT on wealth inequality. Therefore, we encourage efforts to implement democratic institutions that ensure respect for citizens' freedoms, greater democratic accountability, and executive constraints that allow for a more egalitarian distribution of wealth.     

A Man's Blessing or a Woman's Curse? The Family Earnings Gap of Doctors

We examine the size and determinants of the family earnings gap for Australian general practitioners (GPs). Female GPs with children earn more than $30,000 less than comparable female GPs without children, while male GPs with children earn more than $45,000 more than comparable male GPs without children. The main determinants of the family gap are differences in observable characteristics such as working hours, labor‐force attachment, and demographics, and additionally, for men, entrepreneurship and practice size. A fixed‐effects extension of the analysis confirms both the carer effect of children on female GPs and the breadwinner effect of children on male GPs.