The Role of Structural Fiscal Policy on Female Labor Force Participation in OECD Countries
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Summary:
This paper examines the role of structural fiscal policies to promote female labor force participation and reduce gender gaps in labor markets in 26 OECD countries from 2000 to 2019. As both female labor force participation and many explanatory/control variables clearly exhibit non-stationarity (potentially leading to spurious regression results), we employ a panel vector error-correction model, in contrast with most previous empirical studies on this matter. Our analyses confirm statistically significant positive impacts of government spending on (1) early childcare and education, (2) active labor market programs, and (3) unemployment benefits, all of which would help encourage women to enter the labor force, while (4) an increase in relative tax rate on second earner could have negative impact on female labor force participation.
Series:
Working Paper No. 2023/186
Subject:
Active labor market policies Expenditure Gender Gender diversity Labor Unemployment benefits Women
Frequency:
regular
English
Publication Date:
September 8, 2023
ISBN/ISSN:
9798400254956/1018-5941
Stock No:
WPIEA2023186
Format:
Paper
Pages:
51
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