IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/ebj/ijpssr/2024v3iiia3.html

Empowering Women, Transforming Economies: The Impact of Trade Liberalization and Labor Market Dynamics on Women’s Economic Empowerment in Asia

Author

Listed:
  • Muhammad Faizan Rasool
  • Awais Ur Rahman
  • Arfa Akram
  • Anam Batool

Abstract

This study examines the effect of liberalization on women's financial strengthening over 19 Asian nations from 1990 to 2020. Drawing upon Human Capital Theory, Gendered Institutions Theory, Segmented Labor Market Theory, and Inter-sectional Theory, the research explores how educational attainment, gender norms, labor market segmentation, and intersecting identities influence labor force participation of women. The analysis of Panel data, employing fixed effects models, examines the relationship between trade liberalization measures and key variables such as labor force participation rates, sectoral employment patterns, and wage differentials among young women aged 15-24. Empirical findings reveal significant negative associations between overall labor force participation of female and labor force participation rates of young women, moderated by increased employment in service sectors and higher amounts of female labor force participation. Cross-sectional dependence tests underscore strong interdependencies among variables, while panel unit root tests confirm the stationary of variables over time. Moreover, the Westerlund test indicates co-integration among the variables, suggesting long-term relationships. Policy recommendations include enhancing skills development programs, promoting gender-responsive labor policies, supporting access to finance for women entrepreneurs, strengthening social protection measures, and fostering female leadership in decision-making roles. These findings underscore the imperative of integrating gender-sensitive approaches into trade and labor policies to achieve sustainable and inclusive economic growth in Asia.

Suggested Citation

  • Muhammad Faizan Rasool & Awais Ur Rahman & Arfa Akram & Anam Batool, 2024. "Empowering Women, Transforming Economies: The Impact of Trade Liberalization and Labor Market Dynamics on Women’s Economic Empowerment in Asia," International Journal of Politics & Social Sciences Review (IJPSSR), International Journal of Politics & Social Sciences Review (IJPSSR), vol. 3(II), pages 26-38.
    • Handle: RePEc:ebj:ijpssr:2024v3iiia3
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://ojs.ijpssr.org.pk/index.php/ijpssr/article/download/33/26/297
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Schultz, T. Paul, 2003. "Human capital, schooling and health," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 1(2), pages 207-221, June.
    2. Esther Duflo, 2012. "Women Empowerment and Economic Development," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 50(4), pages 1051-1079, December.
    3. Svetlana Pimkina & Luciana de La Flor, 2020. "Promoting Female Labor Force Participation," World Bank Publications - Reports 34953, The World Bank Group.
    4. Kristin Mammen & Christina Paxson, 2000. "Women's Work and Economic Development," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 14(4), pages 141-164, Fall.
    5. Shahra Razavi, 2012. "World Development Report 2012: Gender Equality and Development— A Commentary," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 43(1), pages 423-437, January.
    6. M. J. Piore, 1972. "Notes for a Theory of Labor Market Stratification," Working papers 95, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Department of Economics.
    7. True, Jacqui, 2012. "The Political Economy of Violence against Women," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780199755912.
    8. Pimkina, Svetlana & de La Flor, Luciana, 2020. "Promoting Female Labor Force Participation," Jobs Group Papers, Notes, and Guides 32675027, The World Bank.
    9. George Psacharopoulos & Harry Anthony Patrinos, 2018. "Returns to investment in education: a decennial review of the global literature," Education Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 26(5), pages 445-458, September.
    10. Noorasiah Sulaiman & Nurul Fathnin Muhamad Bustaman & Chor Foon Tang, 2024. "Economic growth and female labour force participation in an ageing society: evidence from Southeast Asia," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 56(37), pages 4481-4491, August.
    11. T. Paul Schultz, 2003. "Human Capital, Schooling and Health Returns," Working Papers 853, Economic Growth Center, Yale University.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Pierre-Richard Agénor & Madina Agénor, 2014. "Infrastructure, women’s time allocation, and economic development," Journal of Economics, Springer, vol. 113(1), pages 1-30, September.
    2. Maria-Dolores, Ramon & Martínez Carrion, José Miguel, 2012. "The comovement between height and some economic development indicators in Spain," UMUFAE Economics Working Papers 26464, DIGITUM. Universidad de Murcia.
    3. Saskia Vossenberg, 2014. "Beyond the Critique: How Feminist Perspectives Can Feed Entrepreneurship Promotion in Developing Countries," Working Papers 2014/14, Maastricht School of Management.
    4. Brown, Drusilla K. & Downes, Thomas & Eggleston, Karen & Kumari, Ratna, 2009. "Human Resource Management Technology Diffusion through Global Supply Chains: Buyer-directed Factory-based Health Care in India," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 37(9), pages 1484-1493, September.
    5. Natacha Raffin, 2009. "Environmental health and education: Towards sustainable growth," Documents de travail du Centre d'Economie de la Sorbonne 09026, Université Panthéon-Sorbonne (Paris 1), Centre d'Economie de la Sorbonne.
    6. Finlay, Jocelyn E., 2021. "Women’s reproductive health and economic activity: A narrative review," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 139(C).
    7. Chris Desmond & Kathryn Watt & Sara Naicker & Jere Behrman & Linda Richter, 2024. "Girls' schooling is important but insufficient to promote equality for boys and girls in childhood and across the life course," Development Policy Review, Overseas Development Institute, vol. 42(1), January.
    8. Böckerman, Petri & Johansson, Edvard & Kiiskinen, Urpo & Heliövaara, Markku, 2010. "The relationship between physical work and the height premium: Finnish evidence," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 8(3), pages 414-420, December.
    9. Price, Gregory N., 2013. "The allometry of metabolism and stature: Worker fatigue and height in the Tanzanian labor market," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 11(4), pages 515-521.
    10. María-Dolores, Ramón & Martínez-Carrión, José Miguel, 2011. "The relationship between height and economic development in Spain, 1850-1958," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 9(1), pages 30-44, January.
    11. Emran, M. Shahe & Jiang, Hanchen & Shilpi, Forhad, 2020. "Gender Bias and Intergenerational Educational Mobility: Theory and Evidence from China and India," GLO Discussion Paper Series 497, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    12. Olimpia NEAGU, 2011. "The Health Component of the Human Capital and the Economic Output "Abstract: The paper has the aim to explore the relationship between health, as human capital component, not very much investigated so far, and the macroeconomic results. It is an," Review of Economic and Business Studies, Alexandru Ioan Cuza University, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, issue 8, pages 213-222, December.
    13. Wolff, François-Charles & Maliki, 2008. "Evidence on the impact of child labor on child health in Indonesia, 1993-2000," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 6(1), pages 143-169, March.
    14. Emran, M. Shahe & Jiang, Hanchen & Shilpi, Forhad, 2025. "Is gender destiny? Gender bias and intergenerational educational mobility in India," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 238(C).
    15. Song, Shige, 2010. "Mortality consequences of the 1959-1961 Great Leap Forward famine in China: Debilitation, selection, and mortality crossovers," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 71(3), pages 551-558, August.
    16. Doepke, M. & Tertilt, M., 2016. "Families in Macroeconomics," Handbook of Macroeconomics, in: J. B. Taylor & Harald Uhlig (ed.), Handbook of Macroeconomics, edition 1, volume 2, chapter 0, pages 1789-1891, Elsevier.
    17. Issa Dianda & Idrissa Ouedraogo & Hamidou Sawadogo, 2026. "Bridging the Gender Gap in Tertiary Education in Sub-saharan Africa: Does Women Political Empowerment Matter?," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 17(1), pages 2580-2613, February.
    18. Juliet Elu & Gregory Price, 2013. "Ethnicity as a Barrier to Childhood and Adolescent Health Capital in Tanzania: Evidence from the Wage-Height Relationship," African Development Review, African Development Bank, vol. 25(1), pages 1-13.
    19. Aramide Kazeem & John M. Musalia, 2018. "The Implication of Early Childhood Malnutrition for Age of Entry into Primary School in Nigeria," Child Indicators Research, Springer;The International Society of Child Indicators (ISCI), vol. 11(4), pages 1337-1368, August.
    20. Ramón María-Dolores & José Miguel Martínez Carrión, 2009. "The relationship between height and economic development in Spain. A historical perspective," Documentos de Trabajo (DT-AEHE) 0912, Asociación Española de Historia Económica.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:ebj:ijpssr:2024v3iiia3. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Hazrat Bilal (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.ijpssr.org.pk .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.