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Twins, family size and female labour force participation in Iran

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  • Mahdi Majbouri

Abstract

Despite the remarkable increase in women’s education levels and the rapid fall of their fertility rate in Iran, female labour force participation (FLFP) has remained low. Using the instrumental variable method, this article estimates the causal impact of number of children on mothers’ participation in the labour market. It finds that having an extra (unplanned) child would only reduce female participation rate for low-educated mothers and mothers with young children, thus having no causal impact on most mothers’ participation. This result explains why the rapid decline in fertility rates did not increase female participation; rather, other factors should be at play. It hence moves us a step forward in explaining the puzzle of FLFP in Iran. Policy implications are discussed.Abbreviation: FLFP: Female Labour Force Participation; LFP: Labour Force Participation

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  • Mahdi Majbouri, 2019. "Twins, family size and female labour force participation in Iran," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 51(4), pages 387-397, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:applec:v:51:y:2019:i:4:p:387-397
    DOI: 10.1080/00036846.2018.1497853
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    1. Mahdi Majbouri, 2016. "Against the Wind: Labor Force Participation of Women and Economic Instability in Iran," Feminist Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 22(4), pages 31-53, October.
    2. Öberg, Stefan, 2018. "Instrumental variables based on twin births are by definition not valid (v.3.0)," SocArXiv zux9s, Center for Open Science.
    3. Mahdi Majbouri & Sanaz Fesharaki, 2019. "Iran’s Multi-ethnic Mosaic: A 23-Year Perspective," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 145(3), pages 831-859, October.
    4. Sanaz Fesharaki & Mahdi Majbouri, 2016. "Iran's multi-ethnic mosaic," WIDER Working Paper Series 117, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    5. Shahram Moeeni & Maryam Moeeni, 2021. "The Impact of Intra-household Bargaining Game on Progression to Third Birth in Iran," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 42(1), pages 61-72, March.
    6. Hooshmand Alizadeh & Josef Kohlbacher & Sara Qadir Mohammed & Salah Vaisi, 2022. "The Status of Women in Kurdish Society and the Extent of Their Interactions in Public Realm," SAGE Open, , vol. 12(2), pages 21582440221, May.
    7. Semih Tumen & Belgi Turan, 2023. "The effect of fertility on female labor supply in a labor market with extensive informality," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 65(4), pages 1855-1894, October.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth
    • J22 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Time Allocation and Labor Supply
    • O53 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economywide Country Studies - - - Asia including Middle East

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