Kaushiki Banerjee

BARASAT GOVERNMENT COLLEGE, India

Title: Determinants of Female Labour Force Participation in Urban India: Does Outdoor Air Pollution Matter?

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Biography

Kaushiki Banerjee, is Assistant-Professor (Economics), Barasat Government College, and Research-Scholar, Department-of-Economics, Jadavpur-University, India. She was a UGC-NET Junior-Research-Fellow. Research interest includes gender, social-sector, econometrics. She has made paper-presentation in National/International-Conferences, and publications in journals/edited-volumes.

Abstract

The stubbornly poor female labour force participation rate (FLFPR) in India since liberalization has been much concern of the researchers and policymakers. However, the adverse role of air-pollution in reducing FLFPR is much less explored. Given the backdrop the present work contributes to the literature by establishing negative sole impact of outdoor air-pollution on FLFPR by exerting direct impact of air-pollution on health which in turn affects FLFPR, i.e., the positive simultaneous dependence between these two is proved. Moreover, interaction-effect of air-pollution with growth, poverty, and urbanisation on health, hence on FLFPR is also evident where the interaction-effect signifies partial-effect of a change in the concerned variable on health and FLFPR actually depends on air-pollution. Thus, measures to raise growth, urbanisation or reduce poverty can improve health and FLFPR, provided air-pollution is mitigated. Further, significant impact of interaction-effect of household-size and growth on FLFPR is well-supported, i.e., the impact of growth on FLFPR depends on household-size and vice-versa. Beyond a critical-level this interaction-term reduces FLFPR (‘inverted-U’ phenomenon is observed). FLFPR falls with both growth and household-size, i.e. given household-size, income-effect dominates and women value leisure more. It adds to the earlier ‘inverted-U feminisation hypothesis’ investigating only sole-impact of growth on FLFPR. Also, the interaction-effect of female education and household-size on FLFPR is U-type, i.e., after a critical level the interaction-term only exerts positive impact on FLFPR. The lower sample-mean than critical-value here implies, FLFPR may fall with education given household-size, i.e., female education does not necessarily imply higher FLFPR.