Analysis of the relationship between female labor force participation and economic growth with u-shaped feminisation hypothesis: An analysis for developed and developing countries

Women are an important part of the manpower involved in the economic growth of a society. At the same time, it constitutes half of the world's potential in terms of talent and labor. There are many factors that influence females to enter the labour market. Women in most of the developing countries are underrepresented in the labour force. In this regard, the equity and efficiency related Sustainable Development Goals, in particular; ensuring inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities; achieving gender equality and empower all women; promoting sustained economic growth have become desirable goals and target for policy formulation. In this study, the presence of U shaped relationship between female labor force participation rate and economic growth is proven by panel data estimates for 48 developed countries and 46 developing countries using World Bank data set between 1996 and 2017. As a result of estimations, made in order to establish the connection, the existence of a U-shaped relationship for both groups of countries was determined. Keywords: Female labor force participation, economic growth, u-shaped feminisation hypothesis, panel data analysis.