Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/81062 
Year of Publication: 
2012
Series/Report no.: 
WIDER Working Paper No. 2012/66
Publisher: 
The United Nations University World Institute for Development Economics Research (UNU-WIDER), Helsinki
Abstract: 
This paper investigates whether cyclical variation in women's labour supply in Africa contributes to smoothing household consumption. We find little support for this hypothesis. Using comparable individual data on about 0.5 million women in 30 Sub-Saharan African countries merged with country level panel data on GDP during 1987-2006, we find that the within-country relationship of women's employment and income is, on average, positive. This finding is robust to controls for country-specific trends and potentially correlated shocks. Examination of business cycle variation in the distribution of women's employment across sectors suggests that recessions are associated with increases in unemployment and self-employment relative to paid employment. The results have potentially important implications for understanding coping mechanisms, labour markets, fertility timing, and investments in children.
Subjects: 
insurance
women's labour supply
added worker effect
business cycles
Africa
JEL: 
J22
J13
ISBN: 
978-92-9230-529-1
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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