Labor force participation in a developing metropolis : does sex matter?
Mohan, Rakesh
After sustained economic growth in Colombia over two decades, the labor market in Bogota exhibited considerable tightening up in the late 1970s. Unemployment rates were seen to have declined and the rate of participation of women to have increased perceptibly over the decade. This study uses data from a 1978 household survey to examine the determinants of labor force participation. The estimates show that the main component of the labor force that can be expected to expand rapidly with rising real wages is that of married women. As access to secondary and higher education improves further, more young men and women will stay longer in school before entering the labor force. Hence, fewer young men and women will enter the labor force at a young age. The same forces that induce greater participation of married women will serve to reduce the entry of young women into the labor force at a young age. These results have implications for urban labor markets in developing countries in general. It may be the case that the remarkable increase in female labor participation that has taken place in developed countries may occur in developing countries earlier than might be expected at rather lower absolute income levels.
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