International Journal of

ADVANCED AND APPLIED SCIENCES

EISSN: 2313-3724, Print ISSN: 2313-626X

Frequency: 12

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 Volume 12, Issue 9 (September 2025), Pages: 192-204

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 Original Research Paper

Determinants of female labor force participation in emerging countries

 Author(s): 

 Najwa Salem Eidhah *, Rozina Shaheen

 Affiliation(s):

 College of Business, Effat University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

 Full text

    Full Text - PDF

 * Corresponding Author. 

   Corresponding author's ORCID profile:  https://orcid.org/0009-0002-1523-3088

 Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

  https://doi.org/10.21833/ijaas.2025.09.019

 Abstract

This study investigates the factors that influence female labor force participation (FLFPR) in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region, focusing on a panel of four GCC countries from 2003 to 2022. It uses several empirical methods, such as fixed effects (FE), generalized least squares with random effects (GLS-RE), maximum likelihood estimation with random effects (ML-RE), and the generalized method of moments (GMM), to produce reliable results. The analysis includes variables such as gross domestic product (GDP), inflation rate (INF), fertility rate (FER), educational attainment (EDU), unemployment rate (UNEMP), urban population (URB), the effects of COVID-19, and indicators of economic recession. The results show that GDP, education, and urbanization have a positive and significant effect on FLFPR, meaning that economic development, better education, and urban living conditions help increase women’s participation in the workforce. On the other hand, the fertility rate is found to have a negative and significant effect on FLFPR, suggesting that having more children can reduce women's job opportunities. These findings point to the need for policies that support economic growth, expand access to education, and promote family planning in order to improve women's participation in the labor market and advance gender equality in the GCC region.

 © 2025 The Authors. Published by IASE.

 This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

 Keywords

 Female labor participation, Economic growth, Education level, Fertility rate, Urbanization

 Article history

 Received 12 September 2024, Received in revised form 20 April 2025, Accepted 18 August 2025

 Acknowledgment

No Acknowledgment. 

 Compliance with ethical standards

 Conflict of interest: The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

 Citation:

 Eidhah NS and Shaheen R (2025). Determinants of female labor force participation in emerging countries. International Journal of Advanced and Applied Sciences, 12(9): 192-204

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 Tables

  Table 1  Table 2  Table 3  Table 4  Table 5  Table 6

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