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What determines women's labor supply? The role of home productivity and social norms

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 August 2022

Farzana Afridi ,
Monisankar Bishnu  and
Kanika Mahajan
Farzana Afridi
Affiliation:
Indian Statistical Institute, Delhi and IZA (Bonn), New Delhi, India
Monisankar Bishnu*
Affiliation:
Indian Statistical Institute, CAMA (ANU), CEPAR, 7, S.J.S. Sansanwal Marg, New Delhi 110016, India
Kanika Mahajan
Affiliation:
Ashoka University, Haryana, India
*
*Corresponding author. E-mail: mbishnu@isid.ac.in
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Abstract

We highlight the role of home productivity and social norms in explaining the gender gap in labor force participation (LFP), and the non-monotonic relationship of women's LFP with their education in India. We construct a model of couples’ time allocation decisions allowing for both market and home productivity to improve with own education. Incorporating individual preference to produce a minimum level of the home good due to social norms, we show that our theoretical model can closely replicate the U-shaped relationship between women's education and their labor supply. Our analysis suggests that home productivity, along with social benchmarks on couples’ time allocation to home good, can be critical determinants of women's labor supply in developing countries.

Keywords

Educationhome productionIndiawomen's labor supplysocial norms

JEL classification

E24: Employment • Unemployment • Wages • Intergenerational Income Distribution • Aggregate Human Capital • Aggregate Labor Productivity J22: Time Allocation and Labor Supply J16: Economics of Gender • Non-labor Discrimination
Type
Research Paper
Information
Journal of Demographic Economics , Volume 90 , Issue 1 , March 2024 , pp. 55 - 87
Copyright
Copyright © Université catholique de Louvain 2022

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