Project 2 will generate one paper that assesses the role of different transmission channels linking economic growth to female labor force participation in a cross-country context. A second paper will summarize results of coordinated country case studies identifying constraints to female labor force participation in India, Bangladesh, South Africa, Vietnam, Bolivia, Uganda, and Rwanda.

How does growth and structural change affect female labor force participation? Building on work by Gaddis and Klasen (2014) on the feminization-U hypothesis and on hypotheses generated in project 1, we use cross-country analyses to investigate heterogeneity of the impact of growth and structural change on female labor force participation, considering a broad set of transmission channels, including the role of economic structure (e.g. export orientation) and demographic, institutional, or value changes brought about by growth and structural change. The role of policy to affect this linkage will also be investigated. Comparative country case studies using household surveys will build on work by Klasen and Pieters (2015) on India and assess the impact of economic development on female labor force participation in India, Bangladesh, South Africa, Vietnam, Bolivia, Uganda, and Rwanda. In particular, the role of key labor supply factors (e.g. household income, education, own wages, economic and social constraints to employment) as well as labor demand factors will be investigated.