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Female Schooling, Non-Market Productivity, and Labor Market Participation in Nigeria

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  • Adebayo B. Aromolaran

Abstract

Economists have argued that increasing female schooling positively influences the labor supply of married women by inducing a faster rise in market productivity relative to non-market productivity. I use the Nigerian Labor Force Survey to investigate how own and husband's schooling affect women's labor market participation. I find that additional years of postsecondary education increases wage market participation probability by as much as 15.2%. A marginal increase in primary schooling has no effect on probability of wage employment, but could enhance participation rates in self-employment by about 5.40%. These effects are likely to be stronger when a woman is married to a more educated spouse. The results suggest that primary education is more productive in non-wage work relative to wage work, while postsecondary education is more productive in wage work. Finally, I find evidence suggesting that non-market work may not be a normal good for married women in Nigeria.

Suggested Citation

  • Adebayo B. Aromolaran, 2004. "Female Schooling, Non-Market Productivity, and Labor Market Participation in Nigeria," Working Papers 879, Economic Growth Center, Yale University.
    • Handle: RePEc:egc:wpaper:879
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    File URL: http://www.econ.yale.edu/growth_pdf/cdp879.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Afridi, Farzana & Dinkelman, Taryn & Mahajan, Kanika, 2016. "Why Are Fewer Married Women Joining the Work Force in India? A Decomposition Analysis over Two Decades," IZA Discussion Papers 9722, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    2. Farzana Afridi & Taryn Dinkelman & Kanika Mahajan, 2018. "Why are fewer married women joining the work force in rural India? A decomposition analysis over two decades," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 31(3), pages 783-818, July.
    3. Seyit Kose & Sahabettin Gunes, 2018. "Educational Attainments And Labor Participation Of Females Across The Turkish Regions: A Panel Data Approach," Eurasian Journal of Economics and Finance, Eurasian Publications, vol. 6(1), pages 1-15.
    4. Martin Mulwa & Timothy Gichana, 2020. "Does education reduce gender differentials in labor market participation? A Kenyan perspective," African Development Review, African Development Bank, vol. 32(3), pages 446-458, September.
    5. Besamusca, Janna & Tijdens, Kea & Keune, Maarten & Steinmetz, Stephanie, 2015. "Working Women Worldwide. Age Effects in Female Labor Force Participation in 117 Countries," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 123-141.
    6. Hanan Nazier & Racha Ramadan, 2016. "Women's Participation in Labor Market in Egypt: Constraints and Opportunities," Working Papers 999, Economic Research Forum, revised May 2016.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Nigeria; Female Schooling; Women's Labor Market Participation; Non-Market Productivity;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I21 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Analysis of Education
    • J22 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Time Allocation and Labor Supply
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • O15 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration

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