The impact of legal regulations made after the year 2002 over the female employment in Turkey: An econometric analysis regarding the service industry

Many legal regulations are enacted for increasing and protecting employment and regulating labor markets. However, there are considerably few studies on the impact of these legal regulations on employment in Turkey. It is understood from the analyzes and studies that women's employment and labor force participation rates depend on several factors such as the increase in the education quality of women, marital status, the number of children, and macro-economic growth and cultural factors. However, it is observed that there were quite a number of amendments on regulations in the field of labor and social security, especially in the 2000s, and these regulations directly or indirectly affect women. The main purpose of this study is to make sense of the effects of these regulations on women's employment in the service sector with the help of econometric modeling. In other words, the relationship between legal regulations and women's employment in the service sector has been examined. In the study, Least Squares Regression Model was used and grouped within the scope of legal arrangements, applications for the reconciliation of business and family life, and legal regulation dates were used as shadow variables. The exact date of the breaks was determined by Leverage Pilot Charts, Influence Statistics and CUSUM test methods for the process of confirming the structural break dates before the said shadow variables were created. Regression analyzes were also carried out with the Newey-West algorithm to provide assumptions. Data analysis has been carried out since 1988 using the growth rate and female employment rates in the service sector and inflation and four basic regulatory variables. As a result of the study, the Labor Law No. 4857, Social Insurance and General Health Insurance Law No. 5510, Regulation on the Conditions of Working for Pregnant or Breastfeeding Women, Breastfeeding Rooms and Child Care Dormitories, and Income Tax Law No. 6663 and Law on Amendments made on Existing Laws have been determined that they have a positive effect on the women employment but these effect rates differ. The Labor Law No. 4857, which regulates flexible working conditions in Turkish legislation, was the regulation that most positively affected the increase of women employment in the service sector.