Lawful Progress: Unveiling the Laws That Reshape Women’s Work Decisions

By Anna Fruttero, Diego B. P. Gomes, Nishtha Sharma

December 8, 2023

Preview Citation

Format: Chicago

Anna Fruttero, Diego B. P. Gomes, and Nishtha Sharma. Lawful Progress: Unveiling the Laws That Reshape Women’s Work Decisions, (USA: International Monetary Fund, 2023) accessed December 3, 2024

Disclaimer: IMF Working Papers describe research in progress by the author(s) and are published to elicit comments and to encourage debate. The views expressed in IMF Working Papers are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the views of the IMF, its Executive Board, or IMF management.

Summary

This paper examines the impact of women’s legal rights on labor force participation decisions made by women and men through a granular analysis of 35 gendered laws. Building on previous literature, it departs from the analysis using aggregate indices due to concerns about (i) the usability of an index for policymaking purposes, (ii) the economic interpretation of an index’s average marginal effects, (iii) and the implicit assumption of homogeneous effects underlying regressions with an index. The findings identify nine key laws that can foster female labor force participation. Notably, laws related to household dynamics and women’s agency within the family, such as divorce and property rights laws, and laws regarding the ability of women to travel outside the home, are especially important in influencing their decision to work. The paper also shows that improving women’s legal rights does not improve their labor force participation through a substitution effect as it has no systematic negative effect on men’s labor force participation.

Subject: Financial inclusion, Financial markets, Gender, Gender inequality, Labor, Labor force, Labor force participation, Women

Keywords: Financial inclusion, Gender gaps, Gender inequality, Gendered law, Gendered laws, Global, Labor force, Labor force participation, Legal barriers, LFP rate, Property rights law, Selected Laws, Women, Women's work decision

Publication Details

Pages:

31
Volume:

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DOI:

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Issue:

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Series:

Working Paper No. 2023/252
Stock No:

WPIEA2023252
ISBN:

9798400261039
ISSN:

1018-5941

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