IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/pra/mprapa/19686.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Women's Empowerment in South Asia and Southeast Asia: A Comparative Analysis

Author

Listed:
  • Chaudhuri, Sanjukta

Abstract

This paper uses multivariate regression analysis to explore the time and birth cohort trends of women’s empowerment in eight countries of South Asia and South East Asia. The measures of women’s empowerment are: economic participation, educational attainment, wage work, fertility, female to male sex ratio of living children, and the ideal female to male sex ratio. The data (1990s and 2000s) are from the Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS.) Comparison of estimated cohort lines demonstrate that Philippines and Vietnam, both in South East Asia, have the highest education level, highest rates of economic participation, and the lowest fertility rates. Cambodia has the highest female to male ratio. Pakistan and Nepal have lowest education; Pakistan and Bangladesh have the lowest economic participation rates and highest fertility rates; India has the lowest sex ratio. In surveying country specific literature to confirm these estimates, I conclude (1) social and religious norms hinder women’s empowerment in both regions. (2) Progress in women’s empowerment has been achieved through feminist movements (the Philippines), government programs (the Doi Moi program of Vietnam) and Non Government Organization efforts (Grameen Bank of Bangladesh) (3) Much of the progress has been achieved with meager access to resources. (4) More empowerment could be the consequence of political turmoil, (Cambodia) and not necessarily economic development or cultural shifts.

Suggested Citation

  • Chaudhuri, Sanjukta, 2010. "Women's Empowerment in South Asia and Southeast Asia: A Comparative Analysis," MPRA Paper 19686, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    • Handle: RePEc:pra:mprapa:19686
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/19686/1/MPRA_paper_19686.pdf
    File Function: original version
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Diana Fletschner, 2008. "Women's Access to Credit: Does It Matter for Household Efficiency?," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 90(3), pages 669-683.
    2. Nobuhiko FUWA & Seiro ITO & Kensuke KUBO & Takashi KUROSAKI & Yasuyuki SAWADA, 2006. "Introduction To A Study Of Intrahousehold Resource Allocation And Gender Discrimination In Rural Andhra Pradesh, India," The Developing Economies, Institute of Developing Economies, vol. 44(4), pages 375-397, December.
    3. Goldin, Claudia, 2006. "The Quiet Revolution That Transformed Women’s Employment, Education, and Family," Scholarly Articles 2943933, Harvard University Department of Economics.
    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. Schultz, T Paul, 1990. "Women's Changing Participation in the Labor Force: A World Perspective," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 38(3), pages 457-488, April.
    6. Anderson, Siwan & Eswaran, Mukesh, 2009. "What determines female autonomy? Evidence from Bangladesh," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 90(2), pages 179-191, November.
    7. Leonid V. Azarnert, 2009. "Abortion And Human Capital Accumulation: A Contribution To The Understanding Of The Gender Gap In Education," Scottish Journal of Political Economy, Scottish Economic Society, vol. 56(5), pages 559-579, November.
    8. Claudia Goldin, 2006. "The Quiet Revolution That Transformed Women's Employment, Education, and Family," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 96(2), pages 1-21, May.
    9. Sen, Amartya, 1998. "Mortality as an Indicator of Economic Success and Failure," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 108(446), pages 1-25, January.
    10. Ambreen Fatima & Humera Sultana, 2009. "Tracing out the U-shape relationship between female labor force participation rate and economic development for Pakistan," International Journal of Social Economics, Emerald Group Publishing, vol. 36(2), pages 182-198, January.
    11. Khawar Mumtaz, 2007. "Gender and Poverty in Pakistan," Development, Palgrave Macmillan;Society for International Deveopment, vol. 50(2), pages 149-153, June.
    12. Gangadharan, L. & Maitra, P., 2000. "The Effect of Education on the Timing of Marriage and First Conception in Pakistan," Department of Economics - Working Papers Series 742, The University of Melbourne.
    13. Anu Rammohan & Meliyanni Johar, 2009. "The Determinants of Married Women's Autonomy in Indonesia," Feminist Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 15(4), pages 31-55.
    14. Neumark, David & Postlewaite, Andrew, 1998. "Relative income concerns and the rise in married women's employment," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 70(1), pages 157-183, October.
    15. Lupin Rahman & Vijayendra Rao, 2004. "The Determinants of Gender Equity in India: Examining Dyson and Moore's Thesis with New Data," Population and Development Review, The Population Council, Inc., vol. 30(2), pages 239-268, June.
    16. Angeles, Gustavo & Guilkey, David K & Mroz, Thomas A, 2005. "The Effects of Education and Family Planning Programs on Fertility in Indonesia," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 54(1), pages 165-201, October.
    17. Gale Summerfield, 1997. "Economic Transition in China and Vietnam: Crossing the Poverty Line is Just the First Step for Women and Their Families," Review of Social Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 55(2), pages 201-214.
    18. David Bloom & David Canning & Günther Fink & Jocelyn Finlay, 2009. "Fertility, female labor force participation, and the demographic dividend," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 14(2), pages 79-101, June.
    19. Amy Liu, 2004. "Sectoral gender wage gap in Vietnam," Oxford Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 32(2), pages 225-239.
    20. Karin Astrid Siegmann, 2006. "Globalisation, Gender, and Equity – Effects of Foreign Direct Investment on Labour Markets in Rural Indonesia," European Journal of Economics and Economic Policies: Intervention, Edward Elgar Publishing, vol. 3(1), pages 113–130-1.
    21. Psacharopoulos, George & Tzannatos, Zafiris, 1989. "Female Labor Force Participation: An International Perspective," The World Bank Research Observer, World Bank, vol. 4(2), pages 187-201, July.
    22. Pitt, Mark M & Khandker, Shahidur R & Cartwright, Jennifer, 2006. "Empowering Women with Micro Finance: Evidence from Bangladesh," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 54(4), pages 791-831, July.
    23. Ambreen Fatima & Humera Sultana, 2009. "Tracing out the U‐shape relationship between female labor force participation rate and economic development for Pakistan," International Journal of Social Economics, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 36(1/2), pages 182-198, January.
    24. Ashima Goyal, 2007. "Women Making Choices," Indian Journal of Gender Studies, Centre for Women's Development Studies, vol. 14(3), pages 409-437, December.
    25. Naila Kabeer, 1999. "Resources, Agency, Achievements: Reflections on the Measurement of Women's Empowerment," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 30(3), pages 435-464, July.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Adnan Khaliq & Dilawar Khan & Sultan Akbar & Muhammad Hamayun & Barkat Ullah, 2017. "Female Labor Market Participation and Economic Growth: The Case of Pakistan," Journal of Social Science Studies, Macrothink Institute, vol. 4(2), pages 217-230, July.

    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. Besamusca, Janna & Tijdens, Kea & Keune, Maarten & Steinmetz, Stephanie, 2015. "Working Women Worldwide. Age Effects in Female Labor Force Participation in 117 Countries," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 123-141.
    2. Amaia Altuzarra & Catalina Gálvez-Gálvez & Ana González-Flores, 2019. "Economic Development and Female Labour Force Participation: The Case of European Union Countries," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(7), pages 1-18, April.
    3. Berga, Helen & Abdisa, Lamessa T., 2022. "Assessing Gender Gap in Wage and Self-Employment: Evidence from Ethiopia," Ethiopian Journal of Economics, Ethiopian Economics Association, vol. 31(01), April.
    4. Chaudhary, Ruchika. & Verick, Sher., 2014. "Female labour force participation in India and beyond," ILO Working Papers 994867893402676, International Labour Organization.
    5. Mehrotra, Santosh & Parida, Jajati K., 2017. "Why is the Labour Force Participation of Women Declining in India?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 98(C), pages 360-380.
    6. Antara Bhattacharyya & Sushil Kr. Haldar, 2020. "Does U Feminisation Work in Female Labour Force Participation Rate? India: A Case Study," The Indian Journal of Labour Economics, Springer;The Indian Society of Labour Economics (ISLE), vol. 63(1), pages 143-160, March.
    7. repec:ilo:ilowps:486789 is not listed on IDEAS
    8. Julia Behrman & Pilar Gonalons-Pons, 2020. "Women's employment and fertility in a global perspective (1960–2015)," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 43(25), pages 707-744.
    9. Santosh Mehrotra & Jajati K. Parida, 2021. "Stalled Structural Change Brings an Employment Crisis in India," The Indian Journal of Labour Economics, Springer;The Indian Society of Labour Economics (ISLE), vol. 64(2), pages 281-308, June.
    10. Panu Poutvaara & Maximilian Schwefer, 2018. "Husbands’ and wives’ diverging perceptions on who decides," ifo Working Paper Series 279, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich.
    11. Paolo Verme, 2015. "Economic development and female labor participation in the Middle East and North Africa: a test of the U-shape hypothesis," IZA Journal of Labor & Development, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 4(1), pages 1-21, December.
    12. Ishac Diwan & Irina Vartanova, 2017. "The Effect of Patriarchal Culture on Women’s Labor Force Participation," Working Papers 1101, Economic Research Forum, revised 06 Jan 2017.
    13. Tushar Bharati & Yiwei Qian & Jeonghwan Yun, 2020. "Fueling the Engines of Liberation with Cleaner Cooking Fuel," Economics Discussion / Working Papers 20-03, The University of Western Australia, Department of Economics.
    14. Isis Gaddis & Stephan Klasen, 2014. "Economic development, structural change, and women’s labor force participation:," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 27(3), pages 639-681, July.
    15. Finlay, Jocelyn E., 2021. "Women’s reproductive health and economic activity: A narrative review," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 139(C).
    16. Fernandez, Antonia & Kambhampati, Uma S., 2017. "Shared agency: The dominant spouse’s impact on education expenditure," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 96(C), pages 182-197.
    17. Raymundo Miguel Campos-Vazquez & Roberto Velez-Grajales, 2014. "Female Labour Supply and Intergenerational Preference Formation: Evidence for Mexico," Oxford Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 42(4), pages 553-569, December.
    18. Ganguli, Ina & Hausmann, Ricardo & Viarengo, Martina, 2011. "Closing the Gender Gap in Education: Does It Foretell the Closing of the Employment, Marriage, and Motherhood Gaps?," Working Paper Series rwp11-021, Harvard University, John F. Kennedy School of Government.
    19. Sharmistha Self & Richard Grabowski, 2013. "Female Autonomy In Rural North India: Impact Of Economic, Social, And Political Factors," Journal of Economic Development, Chung-Ang Unviersity, Department of Economics, vol. 38(1), pages 59-82, March.
    20. Di Laura, Giovanna F. & Avolio, Beatrice E., 2017. "The progress and evolution of women’s participation in production and business activities in South America," Revista CEPAL, Naciones Unidas Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL), August.
    21. Dildar, Yasemin, 2015. "Patriarchal Norms, Religion, and Female Labor Supply: Evidence from Turkey," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 40-61.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    female empowerment; education; labor force participation; fertility; South Asia; Southeast Asia;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • N35 - Economic History - - Labor and Consumers, Demography, Education, Health, Welfare, Income, Wealth, Religion, and Philanthropy - - - Asia including Middle East
    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    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:pra:mprapa:19686. 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: Joachim Winter (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/vfmunde.html .

    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.