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Connecting to Economic Opportunity: the Role of Public Transport in Promoting Women’s Employment in Lima

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  • Daniel F. Martinez

    (Inter-American Development Bank)

  • Oscar A. Mitnik

    (Inter-American Development Bank)

  • Edgar Salgado

    (Inter-American Development Bank)

  • Lynn Scholl

    (Inter-American Development Bank)

  • Patricia Yañez-Pagans

    (IDB Invest)

Abstract

Limited access to safe transportation is one of the greatest challenges to labor force participation faced by women in developing countries. This paper quantifies the causal impacts of improved urban transport systems in women’s employment outcomes, looking at Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) and elevated light rail investments in the metropolitan region of Lima, Perú. We find large gains in employment and earnings per hour among women, and not for men, due to these investments. Most of the gains arise on the extensive margin, with more women being employed, but employment does not appear to be of higher quality than that for comparison groups. We find also evidence of an increase in the use of public transport. Results are robust to alternative specifications and we do not find evidence that they are driven by neighborhood composition changes or reorganization of economic activity. Overall, these findings suggest that infrastructure investments that make it faster and safer for women to use public transport can generate important labor market impacts for women who reside in the area of influence of the improved infrastructure.

Suggested Citation

  • Daniel F. Martinez & Oscar A. Mitnik & Edgar Salgado & Lynn Scholl & Patricia Yañez-Pagans, 2020. "Connecting to Economic Opportunity: the Role of Public Transport in Promoting Women’s Employment in Lima," Journal of Economics, Race, and Policy, Springer, vol. 3(1), pages 1-23, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:joerap:v:3:y:2020:i:1:d:10.1007_s41996-019-00039-9
    DOI: 10.1007/s41996-019-00039-9
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    Cited by:

    1. Alam,Muneeza Mehmood & Cropper,Maureen L. & Herrera Dappe,Matias & Suri,Palak, 2021. "Closing the Gap: Gender, Transport, and Employment in Mumbai," Policy Research Working Paper Series 9569, The World Bank.
    2. Ali Bokhari & Farahnaz Sharifi, 2023. "Simultaneous Inequity of Elderly Residents in Melbourne Metropolitan," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(3), pages 1-17, January.
    3. Abu-Qarn, Aamer & Lichtman-Sadot, Shirlee, 2019. "Connecting Disadvantaged Communities to Work and Higher Education Opportunities: Evidence from Public Transportation Penetration to Arab Towns in Israel," IZA Discussion Papers 12824, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    4. Small, Sarah F. & van der Meulen Rodgers, Yana, 2023. "The gendered effects of investing in physical and social infrastructure," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 171(C).
    5. Seema Jayachandran, 2021. "Social Norms as a Barrier to Women’s Employment in Developing Countries," IMF Economic Review, Palgrave Macmillan;International Monetary Fund, vol. 69(3), pages 576-595, September.
    6. Salgado, Edgar & Mitnik, Oscar A., 2021. "Spatial and Time Spillovers of Driving Restrictions: Causal Evidence from Limas Pico y Placa Policy," IDB Publications (Working Papers) 11818, Inter-American Development Bank.
    7. Suchi Kapoor Malhotra & Howard White & Nina Ashley O. Dela Cruz & Ashrita Saran & John Eyers & Denny John & Ella Beveridge & Nina Blöndal, 2021. "Studies of the effectiveness of transport sector interventions in low‐ and middle‐income countries: An evidence and gap map," Campbell Systematic Reviews, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 17(4), December.
    8. Aamer Abu‐Qarn & Shirlee Lichtman‐Sadot, 2022. "The Trade‐Off Between Work and Education: Evidence from Public Transportation Penetration to Arab Towns in Israel," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 41(1), pages 193-225, January.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Urban transport; Gender; Employment; Impact evaluation;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J01 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - General - - - Labor Economics: General
    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
    • O12 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Microeconomic Analyses of Economic Development
    • R40 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Transportation Economics - - - General

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