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A Pluralist Account of Labour Participation in India

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  • Wendy Olsen
  • University of Manchester
  • Smita Mehta
  • Cambridge University

Abstract

Labour force participation in India is found to respond to a plurality of causal mechanisms. Employment and unpaid labour are both measured using the 1999/2000 Indian National Sample Survey. Men`s labour-force participation stood at 85% and women`s at 35%. The overall rate of labour force participation among women had fallen since 1989. Regression reveals a U curve of female employment by education levels. Many women at the bottom of the U are doing extra-domestic work, so a detailed measurement of both domestic work and other unpaid work is provided. Women in the Muslim cultural group do more extra-domestic work (and are more likely to be `inactive`) than women in other cultural groups. Economic poverty causes employment to be more likely. We use retroduction to interpret the regressions of labour force participation. We provide a number of reasons which could explain both the work patterns and the housewifisation pattern.

Suggested Citation

  • Wendy Olsen & University of Manchester & Smita Mehta & Cambridge University, 2006. "A Pluralist Account of Labour Participation in India," Economics Series Working Papers GPRG-WPS-042, University of Oxford, Department of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:oxf:wpaper:gprg-wps-042
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Wendy Olsen, 2006. "Pluralism, poverty and sharecropping: Cultivating open-mindedness in development studies," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 42(7), pages 1130-1157.
    2. Wendy Olsen & University of Manchester, 2005. "Pluralism, Poverty and Sharecropping: Cultivating Open-Mindedness in Development Studies," Economics Series Working Papers GPRG-WPS-008, University of Oxford, Department of Economics.
    3. Parvati Raghuram, 2001. "Caste and Gender in the Organisation of Paid Domestic Work in India," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 15(3), pages 607-617, September.
    4. Ben Rogaly, 1997. "Embedded markets: Hired labour arrangements in west Bengal agriculture," Oxford Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 25(2), pages 209-223.
    5. Folbre, Nancy, 1986. "Cleaning house : New perspectives on Households and Economic Development," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 22(1), pages 5-40, June.
    6. Emmanuel Skoufias, 1993. "Seasonal Labor Utilization in Agriculture: Theory and Evidence from Agrarian Households in India," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 75(1), pages 20-32.
    7. Bina Agarwal, 1997. "''Bargaining'' and Gender Relations: Within and Beyond the Household," Feminist Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 3(1), pages 1-51.
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    Cited by:

    1. Sunny Jose, 2009. "Women, Paid Work and Empowerment in India: A Review of Evidence and Issues," Working Papers id:2064, eSocialSciences.
    2. repec:ilo:ilowps:486789 is not listed on IDEAS
    3. Seneviratne, Prathi, 2020. "Gender wage inequality during Sri Lanka’s post-reform growth: A distributional analysis," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 129(C).
    4. Prathi Seneviratne, 2017. "Female Labour Force Participation and Economic Development in Labour Abundant Countries: Evidence from Sri Lanka," Working Papers 2017-02, Carleton College, Department of Economics.
    5. Ashwini Deshpande & Naila Kabeer, 2021. "Norms that matter: Exploring the distribution of women's work between income generation, expenditure-saving, and unpaid domestic responsibilities in India," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2021-130, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    6. Sanghamitra Kanjilal-Bhaduri & Francesco Pastore, 2018. "Returns to Education and Female Participation Nexus: Evidence from India," The Indian Journal of Labour Economics, Springer;The Indian Society of Labour Economics (ISLE), vol. 61(3), pages 515-536, September.
    7. Ashwini Deshpande, 2020. "(In)Visibility, Care and Cultural Barriers: The Size and Shape of Women’s Work in India," Working Papers id:13084, eSocialSciences.
    8. Sonali Chakraborty, 2019. "Contribution of the Unpaid Family Labour in the Handloom Sector of Textile Industry in West Bengal," The Indian Journal of Labour Economics, Springer;The Indian Society of Labour Economics (ISLE), vol. 62(4), pages 693-713, December.
    9. Kanjilal-Bhaduri, Sanghamitra & Pastore, Francesco, 2018. "Returns to Education and Female Work Force Participation Nexus: Evidence from India," GLO Discussion Paper Series 162, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    10. Neff, Daniel & Sen, Kunal & Kling, Veronika, 2012. "The Puzzling Decline in Rural Women's Labor Force Participation in India: A Reexamination," GIGA Working Papers 196, GIGA German Institute of Global and Area Studies.
    11. Wendy Olsen & University of Manchester, 2006. "Pluralist Methodology for Development Economics: The Example of Moral Economy of Indian Labour Markets," Economics Series Working Papers GPRG-WPS-053, University of Oxford, Department of Economics.
    12. Amrita Datta & Tanuka Endow & Balwant Singh Mehta, 2020. "Education, Caste and Women’s Work in India," The Indian Journal of Labour Economics, Springer;The Indian Society of Labour Economics (ISLE), vol. 63(2), pages 387-406, June.
    13. Chaudhary, Ruchika. & Verick, Sher., 2014. "Female labour force participation in India and beyond," ILO Working Papers 994867893402676, International Labour Organization.
    14. Chatterjee,Urmila & Murgai,Rinku & Rama,Martin G., 2015. "Job opportunities along the rural-urban gradation and female labor force participation in India," Policy Research Working Paper Series 7412, The World Bank.
    15. Bilal Nabeel Falah & Marcelo Bérgolo & Arwa Abu Hashhash & Mohammad Hattawy & Iman Saadeh, 2019. "The Effect of Labor-Demand Shocks on Women’s Participation in the Labor Force: Evidence from Palestine," Working Papers PMMA 2019-08, PEP-PMMA.
    16. Prathi Seneviratne, 2017. "Explaining Changes in Sri Lanka’s Wage Distribution, 1992-2014: A Quantile Regression Analysis," Working Papers 2017-01, Carleton College, Department of Economics.
    17. Kelly, Orla & Krishna, Aditi & Bhabha, Jacqueline, 2016. "Private schooling and gender justice: An empirical snapshot from Rajasthan, India's largest state," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 175-187.

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