Work participation, gender and economic development: A quantitative anatomy of the Indian scenario

Abstract

This article analyses forces which influence the degree of participation of population in economic activity in a developing economy. In the first stage the relationship between economic development and work participation is examined. The core of the analysis is based on a cross‐sectional study of 306 districts of India, using a composite index of development. The entire analysis is conducted separately for males and females on the one hand, and the rural and urban segments on the other. The oft‐referred‐to inverse relationship between female work participation and economic development emerges to be true in initial stages of development in the rural segment, but not so in the case of the urban segment. In the second stage the role of key socioeconomic and demographic factors, in addition to that of development, has been investigated using a recursive multi‐equation regression model. Finally, keeping in mind the crucial role of education in this context, work participation is analysed in terms of ten disaggregated educational categories.