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Who hires foreign domestic workers? Evidence from Lebanon

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  • Ali Fakih
  • Walid Marrouch

Abstract

Foreign domestic workers' activities provide important market and non-market services in a large number of middle-income countries as these activities have an impact on the labor force participation and time allocation decisions of household members. This paper provides new evidence on the determinants of foreign domestic workers' employment using a socio-economic dataset from Lebanon. Controlling for household, household head, dwelling and regional characteristics, contrary to popular beliefs we find that the size of the household and the presence of elderly persons are not important determinants of the hiring decision of foreign domestic workers, while the probability of hiring a domestic worker is significantly higher for households with children and disabled persons. Interestingly, we find that the number of rooms in the residence rather than its total surface area or type to be the only relevant dwelling characteristic. The paper offers insights about the demand for foreign domestic workers that may be useful to policy makers in developing nations.

Suggested Citation

  • Ali Fakih & Walid Marrouch, 2013. "Who hires foreign domestic workers? Evidence from Lebanon," CIRANO Working Papers 2013s-36, CIRANO.
    • Handle: RePEc:cir:cirwor:2013s-36
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    Cited by:

    1. Hofmarcher, Thomas, 2017. "The Effect of Paid Vacation on Health: Evidence from Sweden," Working Papers 2017:13, Lund University, Department of Economics.
    2. Verena Lauber & Sarah Reiter & Johanna Storck, 2015. "Familienfreundlichkeit in Unternehmen - Status Quo in Deutschland und Forschungsstand," DIW Roundup: Politik im Fokus 77, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
    3. Verena Lauber & Johanna Storck, 2016. "Helping with the Kids? How Family-Friendly Workplaces Affect Parental Well-Being and Behavior," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 1630, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
    4. Laszlo Goerke & Sabrina Jeworrek & Markus Pannenberg, 2015. "Trade union membership and paid vacation in Germany," IZA Journal of Labor Economics, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 4(1), pages 1-26, December.
    5. Laszlo Goerke & Sabrina Jeworrek, 2016. "Paid Vacation Use - The Role of Works Councils," IAAEU Discussion Papers 201601, Institute of Labour Law and Industrial Relations in the European Union (IAAEU).
    6. Verena Lauber & Johanna Storck, 2016. "Helping with the Kids? How Family-Friendly Workplaces Affect Parental Well-Being and Behavior," SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research 883, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).
    7. 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.
    8. Ahmed Fayez Abdelgouad, 2016. "Exporting and Workforce Skills-Intensity in the Egyptian Manufacturing Firms: Empirical Evidence Using World Bank Firm-Level Data for Egypt," Working Paper Series in Economics 358, University of Lüneburg, Institute of Economics.
    9. Hayo Bernd & Caris Tobias, 2013. "Female Labour Force Participation in the MENA Region: The Role of Identity," Review of Middle East Economics and Finance, De Gruyter, vol. 9(3), pages 271-292, December.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Foreign domestic workers; Demand for domestic work; Household level data;

    JEL classification:

    • D13 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Household Production and Intrahouse Allocation
    • J23 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Labor Demand
    • J49 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Particular Labor Markets - - - Other

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